Sharpless 278 or SH2-278 is a faint emission nebula located in the Orion Molecular Cloud just north of Rigel. There are also some blue reflection nebulae associated with this object, however, they are very faint and would need lots of exposure time in a dark area to bring it out. My sky conditions especially to the south looking in this region are not good so I decided to collect just enough RGB for the stars but forgo the reflection to focus more on the Ha portion. I am happy with this choice as the stars turned out to be quite colorful.
The image is oriented exactly as it would appear if you were looking at it in the Northern Hemisphere where north is on the top, east is left, west is right, and south is on the bottom (Rigel is a bit further south). The nebula has an interesting structure with a large main arc that resembles a flock of birds flying south for the winter. A smaller secondary arc known as LBN 960 is located on the southern arm while a third arc known as LBN 956 is on the northern arm.
The nebula was visible in the stacked red channel but not in either of the green or blue channels. There are also dark structures within emission nebula which form a nice contrast with the red region. I collected data over several nights as it was a good object to do while waiting for other targets to emerge. In addition, I was able to collect Ha data when the moon was partially out as well - lately it only seems to be clear when the moon is out.
Dates: 1-11-22, 1-14, 1-15, 1-18, 1-31, 2-5, 2-8, 2-9, 2-10
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