Sh2-174 Planetary Nebula

This nebula, popularly known as Valentine Rose Nebula, has both Sh2-174 and PK 120+18.1 as catalogue designations. 

It is therefore an unusual object: the fact that an object shares the names of a catalogue of emission nebulae (Sharpless 2) and a catalogue of planetary nebulae (Perek-Khoutek) already indicates that the classification of this object is not at all clear.

Located in the constellation Cepheus, almost 1000 light-years away, Sh2-174 is a large object that spans approximately 20 arcminutes across the sky. But despite its impressive size, it is incredibly faint, which makes it a difficult target for astrophotography.

One of the most unusual and intriguing aspects of Sh2-174 is the position of its central star. Unlike most planetary nebulae, where the white dwarf resides in the core of the nebula, in Sh2-174, the white dwarf is clearly displaced (see second image on the right), creating an asymmetric appearance. This unusual configuration is believed to be the result of the nebula's interaction with the surrounding interstellar medium.

This is a narrowband image with the HOO palette. The image accumulates 25 hours of exposure and was taken with the TOA-150 telescope and the STL-11000M camera. Additional images were taken with the FSQ-106N setup for the colour of the stars (RGB).

Click on the image for a full resolution version, or go to the Gallery section for complete exposure details.

Image processing: Pixinsight.

Observatory automation and remote operation with Talon6.

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