Sharpless 45

E504051

Sharpless 45 is an emission nebula in the constellation Sagittarius, better known as the Omega Nebula, notable for its bright star-forming regions and distinctive swan-like shape.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Sharpless 45 canonical 2

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (45)

Predicate Object
instanceOf H II region
emission nebula
alsoKnownAs Checkmark Nebula
Horseshoe Nebula
M17
Messier 17
NGC 6618
Omega Nebula
Swan Nebula
angularSize about 11 arcminutes by 6 arcminutes
apparentMagnitudeV approximately 6.0
bestSeenFrom low northern latitudes
southern latitudes
bestViewingSeason northern summer
catalogCode Sh 2-45
celestialHemisphere southern celestial hemisphere
contains dark dust lanes
embedded star cluster
molecular clouds
young massive stars
declination −16° 11′ (approximate)
discoveredBy Philippe Loys de Chéseaux
discoveryYear 1745–1746 (approximate)
distanceFromEarth about 1.6–2.0 kiloparsecs
about 5000–6000 light-years
dominantEmissionLine H-alpha
[O III]
excitedBy ultraviolet radiation from hot O-type stars
hasColor reddish due to hydrogen emission
hasShape omega-like shape
swan-like shape
includedInCatalog Messier catalogue
New General Catalogue (NGC)
Sharpless catalog of H II regions
linked to: Sharpless catalogue
isPopularTargetFor amateur astrophotography
professional astronomical studies of star formation
isRegionOf active star formation
locatedInConstellation Sagittarius
locatedNear Galactic plane
observedIn infrared wavelengths
optical wavelengths
radio wavelengths
partOf Milky Way
Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way
linked to: Sagittarius Arm
rightAscension 18h 20m (approximate)

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Omega Nebula catalogNumber Sharpless 45
Swan Nebula catalogNumber Sharpless 45