# Eagle Ray Nebula · SH 2-63 -- Reflection not Emission Nebula

**URL:** https://forum.telescopius.com/t/eagle-ray-nebula-sh-2-63-reflection-not-emission-nebula/3025
**Category:** Feature Suggestions
**Created:** [October 2, 2026, 9:43pm UTC](https://forum.telescopius.com/t/eagle-ray-nebula-sh-2-63-reflection-not-emission-nebula/3025 "2026-10-02T21:43:54Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![Foobaria](https://forum.telescopius.com/user_avatar/forum.telescopius.com/foobaria/32/962_2.png) [@Foobaria](https://forum.telescopius.com/u/Foobaria)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2026, 9:43pm UTC](https://forum.telescopius.com/t/eagle-ray-nebula-sh-2-63-reflection-not-emission-nebula/3025/1 "2026-10-02T21:43:54Z")

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Although SH 2-63 was originally cataloged in 1959 as an emission nebula, is has virtually no Ha and is actually a reflection nebula.

 ![image](https://forum.telescopius.com/uploads/default/original/2X/f/f7f57b0e09b66f450650fecac84edc8f3b2edd4d.png)

**Sh 2-63 is primarily a reflection nebula / illuminated molecular cloud (dust), rather than an emission nebula.**

While Stewart Sharpless cataloged it in 1959 under the assumption that it was an H II (emission) region—like the rest of the Sharpless catalog—modern imaging and spectroscopy have shown that **it is not an ionized H II region** :

- **Composition:** Sh 2-63 (also cataloged as **LBN 86** , and associated with high-latitude molecular clouds **MBM 158 / MBM 159** ) consists almost entirely of interstellar dust and molecular gas.

- **Filter Response:** It has virtually **no detectable $H\alpha$ emission**. Narrowband dual-band or $H\alpha$ filters will show little to no signal.

- **Imaging Strategy:** Because it shines via scattered starlight (reflection and faint galactic cirrus/IFN-like dust), it is best shot using **broadband LRGB** under dark skies rather than narrowband filters.