“Loop cascade” in the middle of the SMC in HOS colors by Zaytsev and Hanson
The supernova remnant SNR B0050−72.8 [1] located in the middle of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) next to a structure sometimes called "Grand Hexagon of the SMC" [2, 3]. The bubble associated with this SNR is estimated to be only 2.4 arc.min in diameter (140 ly linear size given the distance to the SMC), but it is also superimposed by the 5 arc.min in size (290 ly linear size) elongated shell (possibly a side of a larger bubble) [4, 5] thus forming a complex cascade of loops with a rather fine structure. This object was a target of several recent studies including [6] using the observations performed with XMM-Newton and Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA). The alternative explanation of this “cascade” structure suggested by [4, 5] is as a single large SNR bubble of which the spot identified as SNR B0050−72.8 is just a most active region in X-ray and radio-continuum parts of the spectrum. There are many fainter diffuse structures visible in the FOV some of which may comprise the walls of that hypothetical larger SNR bubble as well as more compact nebular and HII regions.
[2] https://www.astrobin.com/5mqacw/C/
[3] https://www.astrobin.com/lys8ta/C/
[4] https://arxiv.org/abs/0805.0165
[5] https://browse.arxiv.org/pdf/0805.0165.pdf
[6] https://www.astro.keele.ac.uk/iaus256/proceedings/pdf9.pdf
ASA Ritchey-Chretien RC-1000: D=1m, f/6.8 on alt-azimuthal direct drive fork mount, FLI ProLine 16803 with secondary mirror based motorized focusing and automatic de-rotation (Telescope #1 system of ChileScope observatory, Río Hurtado Valley, Chile).
Data and initial calibration/integration: Alexandr Zaytsev https://www.astrobin.com/users/m57ring/ 11x Ha + 10x OIII + 9x SII guided 1200 sec exposures (10h of combined integral) collected over 7 imaging sessions carried out on Aug 24, 26, 27 of 2023 and Sep 12, 13, 14, 25 of 2023 using Chilescope Telescope #1 system.
Image Processing: Mark Hanson
Enjoy, Mark and Alex
