Sand and Stars

Gum Catalogue (1955)

The northern portion of the stupendous Gum 16 – the Vela SNR. Image credit Harel Boren

7 May 2018

Australian astronomer Colin Gum (1924-1960) was based at Mt Stromlo in the 1950s, and he catalogued emission nebulae in the southern sky using wide field photography. Gum published his findings in 1955 in a study entitled A study of diffuse southern H-alpha nebulae which presented a catalogue, now known as the Gum Catalogue, which contains 84 emission nebulae. Although Gum’s catalogue was largely superseded by the RCW catalogue published in 1960 many HII regions are still referenced by their Gum numbers today. And from the elusive Gum 6 – the Vela SNR – to the handful of small, faint and challenging Gum nebulae, they offer an intriguing night’s viewing. 

Gum has the largest emission nebula in the whole sky named after him. With a diameter of 36° the Gum Nebula (Gum 12) sprawls across the constellations of Puppis and Vela, and lies 1,470 light-years away. A more fitting monument to a cosmic cloud hunter who died way too young could not be imagined.

Unfortunately, the enormous Gum Nebula is not visible to our backyard telescopes. The only way to see it is to look at photos of it. 

Gum Nebula. Image credit and copyright: John Gleason

Relatively little is known about the origin of the vast nebula, although it is thought to be the remnant of a supernova explosion one million years ago. The 11,000-year-old Vela Supernova Remnant (encompassing 8 degrees) appears to be embedded in this nebula, although the two are considered separate objects. (Interestingly, the Gum Nebula was photographed during Apollo 16’s 1972 voyage to the Moon while the command module was in the double umbra of the Sun and Earth, using high-speed Kodak film.)

Here are a few of the small, faint and elusive Gum beauties:

 

Gum 15 

Gum 15 (lying in the centre) is 3,000 light-years away in Vela. NGC 2671 is visible a little to the lower left of centre and at the lower right of the image some of the filaments forming part of the Vela Supernova Remnant can be seen. Image credit ESO/DSS 2. Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin

Gum 20

Gum 20. Located some 2,300 light-years away in Vela, the nebula is one of the sites of massive-star formation closest to our Solar System. Image credit ESO 

Gum 29

Gum 29 contains the massive young cluster Westerlund 2. It lies 20,000 light-years away in Carina. Image credit Hubble

Gum 41

Gum 41. This star formation region lies in Centaurus, about 7,300 light-years away. Image credit ESO 

Gum Catalogue

Name

Other designations

Right Ascension

Declination

Gum 1

IC 2177

07 04 25.0

-10 27 18

Gum 2

RCW 1, Sh 2-296

07 09 20.2

-10 20 47

Gum 3

RCW 1a, Sh 2-297

07 05 16.7

-12 19 34

Gum 4

NGC 2359, Thor’s Helmet

07 18 30.0

-13 13 36

Gum 5

RCW 6, Sh 2-301

07 09 42.0

-18 26 00

Gum 6

RCW 7, Sh 2-302

07 31 18.0

-16 58 00

Gum 7

RCW 12, Sh 2-307

07 35 32.9

-18 45 33

Gum 8

RCW 15, Sh 2-310

07 21 00.0

-25 12 00

Gum 9

NGC 2467

07 52 18.5

-26 25 41

Gum 10

RCW 19

08 16 16.8

-35 37 58

Gum 11

NGC 2579

08 20 55.3

-36 13 23

Gum 12a

Gum Nebula

08 09 31.9

-47 20 11

Gum 12b

Gum Nebula

09 49 00.0

-38 24 00

Gum 13

RCW 29

08 21 54.0

-42 39 00

Gum 14

RCW 27

08 39 09.5

-40 25 09

Gum 15

RCW 32

08 43 52.5

-41 14 39

Gum 16

Vela SNR

08 33 00.0

-44 06 00

Gum 17

RCW 33

08 50 21.0

-42 05 23

Gum 18

RCW 35

08 51 48.0

-43 51 00

Gum 19

RCW 34

08 56 28.1

-43 05 58

Gum 20

RCW 36

08 59 00.9

-43 44 10

Gum 21

 

08 54 59.1

-47 35 32

Gum 22

RCW 38a

08 59 06.0

-47 30 00

Gum 23

RCW 38

08 59 42.0

-47 27 00

Gum 24

RCW 39

09 02 42.0

-48 20 00

Gum 25

RCW 40

09 02 21.3

-48 41 55

Gum 26

RCW 42

09 24 30.1

-51 59 07

Gum 27

NGC 2899, RCW 43

09 27 03.0

-56 06 21

Gum 28

NGC 3199, RCW 48

10 16 32.8

-57 56 02

Gum 29

RCW 49

10 24 14.6

-57 46 58

Gum 30

NGC 3293, RCW 51

10 35 52.8

-58 13 52

Gum 31

IC 2599

10 37 42.0

-58 39 00

Gum 32

RCW 52

10 46 11.5

-58 39 12

Gum 33

NGC 3372, Carina Nebula, RCW 53

10 45 02.2

-59 41 59

Gum 34a

 

10 58 00.0

-59 42 00

Gum 34b

 

11 03 12.0

-59 32 00

Gum 35

RCW 54a

10 58 50.9

-61 06 38

Gum 36

RCW 54d

11 12 07.0

-58 48 14

Gum 37

RCW 54c

11 10 02.3

-60 05 42

Gum 38a

NGC 3576

11 11 49.8

-61 18 14

Gum 38b

NGC 3603

11 15 10.8

-61 15 32

Gum 39

RCW 60a, Running Chicken head

11 28 54.1

-62 39 09

Gum 40

RCW 60b, Running Chicken wattle

11 28 51.9

-62 55 51

Gum 41

RCW 61, Running Chicken feet

11 30 24.3

-63 49 0

Gum 42

IC 2944, RCW 62, Running Chicken body

11 38 20.0

0 -63 22 22

Gum 43

RCW 65

12 34 54.4

-61 39 25

Gum 44

RCW 66

12 35 42.0

-61 52 00

Gum 45

RCW 69

12 44 27.4

-62 31 18

Gum 46

RCW 71, Bran 397

12 50 22.6

-61 35 00

Gum 47

RCW 76, NGC 5189 = IC 4274

13 33 32.8

8 -65 58 27

Gum 48a

RCW 75

13 19 46.0

-62 30 42

Gum 48b

RCW 78

13 33 18.0

-62 18 00

Gum 48c

RCW 79

13 39 54.0

-61 45 00

Gum 48d

RCW 80

13 47 00.0

-62 35 00

Gum 49

RCW 98, Coffee Bean Nebula

15 55 39.6

-54 38 36

Gum 50

RCW 99

15 59 28.4

-53 44 57

Gum 51

RCW 105

16 10 00.0

-49 08 00

Gum 52

RCW 107,  NGC 6164/6165

16 33 52.3

-48 06 40

Gum 53

RCW 108, NGC 6188

16 40 00.1

-48 51 45

Gum 54

 

16 54 12.0

-45 12 00

Gum 55

RCW 113

16 53 00.0

-42 12 00

Gum 56

RCW 116

16 56 54.6

-40 30 44

Gum 57a

RCW 119

17 01 13.0

-38 12 11

Gum 57b

RCW 119, Sh 2-2

17 03 56.7

-37 50 38

Gum 58

RCW 120, Sh 2-3

17 12 24.0

-38 28 00

Gum 59

RCW 123

17 19 48.0

-38 16 00

Gum 60

NGC 6302, RCW 124, Sh 2-6

17 13 44.5

-37 06 11

Gum 61

NGC 6334, Cat’s Paw Nebula

17 19 46.0

-36 05 48

Gum 62

NGC 6334, Cat’s Paw Nebula

17 20 52.7

-36 07 52

Gum 63

NGC 6334, Cat’s Paw Nebula

17 19 30.4

-35 42 36

Gum 64a

 

17 20 06.0

-35 58 00

Gum 64b

NGC 6334, Cat’s Paw Nebula

17 20 54.0

-35 53 00

Gum 64c

NGC 6334, Cat’s Paw Nebula

17 20 12.0

-35 45 00

Gum 65

Sh 2-9

16 21 11.3

-25 35 34

Gum 66

NGC 6357, RCW 131, Sh 2-11

17 24 44.4

-34 12 11

Gum 67

RCW 132, Sh 2-12

17 34 42.4

-32 34 53

Gum 68

RCW 133, Sh 2-13

17 29 12.9

-31 32 03

Gum 69

RCW 134. Sh 2-1, W25

17 49 16.5

-31 15 18

Gum 70

RCW 137, Sh 2-16

17 46 42.0

-29 18 00

Gum 71

RCW 144, Sh 2-22, LBN 14

17 54 54.0

-24 53 13

Gum 72

M8 = NGC 6523-NGC 6530,

RCW 146a, Sh 2-25,Lagoon Nebula

18 03 36.0

-24 20 00

Gum 73

Sh 2-27

16 37 09.5

-10 34 01

Gum 74a

RCW 145, Sh 2-28

18 01 00.0

-23 20 00

Gum 74b

RCW 146b

18 04 42.1

-23 27 35

Gum 75

RCW 146c

18 09 17.6

-23 59 18

Gum 76

M20, Trifid nebula, RCW 147,

Sh 2-30

18 02 23.5

-23 01 50

Gum 77a

RCW 169, Sh 2-34, LBM 38

18 15 30.0

-21 38 00

Gum 77b

RCW 151, Sh 2-35, LBM 42

18 16 30.0

-20 24 00

Gum 78

RCW 153a, Sh 2-37

18 17 39.9

9 -19 40 19

Gum 79

RCW 157, Sh 2-44

18 16 49.6

-16 31 04

Gum 80

RCW 158, Sh 2-46

18 05 58.

-14 11 52

Gum 81a

 

18 21 18.0

-16 13 00

Gum 81b

 

18 19 54.0

-15 57 00

Gum 82

RCW 162, Sh 2-48

18 22 24.0

-14 34 00

Gum 83

M16, Eagle Nebula, NGC 6611,

RCW 165, Sh 2-49

18 19 00.0

-13 52 00

Gum 84

NGC 6604, RCW 167, Sh 2-54

18 18 00.0

-11 57 00

Gum 85

 

18 17 54.0

-11 44 00