Sh2-33 is an emission nebula in the constellation of Serpens. It is located on the border with Ophiuchus and Libra, in the southeastern part of the constellation. It is extremely faint and is therefore invisible to direct observation with almost all amateur instruments, while it can be captured in long exposure photographs. Being close to the celestial equator,it is observable from all populated regions of the Earth; the most suitable period for its identification in the evening sky from May to September. It is one of the closest nebulae ever to the solar system,being located just 110 parsecs (about 360 light years) from it. It forms the illuminated and ionized part of the faint MBM 38 cloud, a long, almost completely dark filament that extends northeast-southwest. Together with nearby Sh2-36 (MBM 39) it is the most advanced edge of a bubble structure about 5° wide and centered a few degrees to the west; this bubble would be linked to theregion of the Antares Association and is placed at a high galactic latitude.

Telescope: ASA N16 f3.6
Mount: Astro Physics 3600GTO “El Capitan”
Camera: SBIG STL-11000M
Guider: SBIG STL-Internal

L: 24×5 mins = 120 mins, R: 24×5 mins = 120 mins, G: 24×5 mins = 120 mins, B: 24×5 mins = 120 mins

Total Imaging Time: 8h 00m

Data Imaged remotely over 5 nights during June & July 2009.
Data acquisition & Processing by David Churchill.

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