IC 2177 is a region of nebulosity that lies along the border between the constellations Monoceros and Canis Major. It is a roughly circular H II region centered on the Be star HD 53367.[5] This nebula was discovered by Welsh amateur astronomer Isaac Roberts and was described by him as "pretty bright, extremely large, irregularly round, very diffuse."[6]

IC 2177
Emission nebula
H II region
Detailed view of IC 2177 produced by the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope.[1]
Observation data: J2000 epoch
Right ascension07h 04m 25s[2]
Declination−10° 27′ 18″[2]
Distance3650[3] ly   (1,120 pc)
Apparent magnitude (V)15.23[4]
ConstellationMonoceros
DesignationsGUM 1, IC 2177, Sh2-292[2]
See also: Lists of nebulae
The location of IC 2177 (circled in red)

The name Seagull Nebula is sometimes applied by amateur astronomers to this emission region, although it more properly includes the neighboring regions of star clusters, dust clouds and reflection nebulae. This latter region includes the open clusters NGC 2335 and NGC 2343.[7]

IC 2177 is also known as the Seagull's Head, due to its larger presence in the Seagull nebula.

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References

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  1. ^ "The Rich Colours of a Cosmic Seagull". ESO Press Release. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
  2. ^ a b c "IC 2177 -- HII (ionized) region". SIMBAD. Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
  3. ^ Ogura, Katsuo (March 2006). "Star formation associated with H II regions". Bulletin of the Astronomical Society of India. 34 (2): 111. Bibcode:2006BASI...34..111O.
  4. ^ "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". ned.ipac.caltech.edu. Retrieved 2018-12-29.
  5. ^ Gregorio-Hetem, J. (December 2008). "The Canis Major Star Forming Region". In Bo Reipurth (ed.). Handbook of Star Forming Regions. The Southern Sky ASP Monograph Publications. Vol. 2. Bibcode:2008hsf2.book....1G.
  6. ^ O'Meara, Stephen James (2007). Hidden treasures. Deep-sky companions. Cambridge University Press. p. 200–201. ISBN 978-0-521-83704-0.
  7. ^ Monks, Neale (2010). Go-To Telescopes Under Suburban Skies. Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series. Springer. p. 48. ISBN 978-1-4419-6850-0.
  8. ^ "Anatomy of a Cosmic Seagull - ESO's VST captures a celestial gull in flight". www.eso.org. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
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