APOD: 2026 October 2 – The Complete Sharpless Catalog: 313 Nebulas

Automatically curated summary from NASA.

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day featured a composite image by astrophotographer Bing Xin capturing all 313 objects in the Sharpless Catalog of H II Regions. Photographed across dark skies in Eastern China and Inner Mongolia, the project required approximately 800 total hours of exposure, spending 2 to 6 hours per nebula. Beyond ionized hydrogen regions like the Eagle, Heart, and Orion Nebulas, the compilation includes planetary nebulas and supernova remnants. Bing Xin utilized narrowband filters targeting ionized hydrogen and oxygen alongside red-green-blue filters to assemble the full catalog.

Context and limitations

The text is an excerpt from an image feature caption, and specific operational details like total exposure hours rely on the self-reported account of the astrophotographer.