IC 2177 (a.k.a. Seagull Nebula) is on the border of the constellations of Monoceros (The Unicorn) and Canis Major (The Great Dog) approximately 3700 light-years away. This very popular object is a thick cloud of mainly hydrogen gas and dust spans over 100 light-years. The head is illuminated by the bright star, HD 53367, located in the eye socket while other young stars in the region supply the radiation necessary for the reddish glow of the rest of the nebula.
I used a Canon 200mm lens with my old T3i/600d modified to capture this widefield shot and was a little disappointed not to get more surrounding nebulosity. On the other hand this object sits low in the sky facing the most light polluted direction from my yard so it is not totally surprising. I used the Astronomik 12nm clip-in filter to collect the most of the nebulosity and also the Astronomik Ultra High Contrast filter (UHC) for the RGB data. UHC filters aren't considered true narrowband filters but are the most restrictive broadband (i.e. most NB of the broadband). They let in a range, rather than a specific wavelength, that covers OIII and Hb and a second range that covers Ha and SII. they were popular a few years back however have now been replaced by filters such as the L-Enhance, L-Extreme, and Triad which really are narrowband filters for one-shot color (OSC) cameras. I left it as a widefield image as I like how it faces the star cluster, M50, on the left - it looks like it is staring at it.
I will have a higher resolution narrowband of the head region taken with my telescope soon.
Dates: 2-20-21, 3-2-21, 3-4-21, 3-7-21, 3-9-21
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