Barnard's Loop (Sharpless 276)

Right Ascension	5 : 15 -- 6 : 00 (h:m)
Declination	-8 -- +3 (deg:m)
Distance	1.6 (kly)
Visual Brightness	? (mag)
Apparent Dimension	> 600 (arc min)

Barnard's loop is a remarkable nebula enveloping a great part of the huge Orion cloud, or complex, it seems to be associated with. It was perhaps discovered by William Herschel, and finally found again by E.E. Barnard.

While difficult to be observed visually, it can be well photographed on long exposures.

It is speculated that this nebula may be a supernova remnant.

Our image shows faint Barnard's Loop on a star trail exposure of constellation Orion obtained by Alexander Jäger of the Interessengemeinschaft Astronomie (Astronomy Interest Group) at the University of Constance. Other parts of the Orion cloud, such as the Orion Nebula M42/M43 and the Horsehead Nebula region can also be easily identified in this image, as well as Orion's major stars. The extended image shows also the Rosette Nebula. Alexander took this image with a 50 mm f/1.4 photo lens stopped to f/2, exposed 2 minutes on Kodak Ektachrome Panther P1600X film from the Schwäbische Alb, South Germany.

Last Modification: 29 Mar 1998, 13:30 MET