Click image for higher resolutionThis page has been updated (September 2020) to include additional data corresponding to the left panel of this mosaic. This time, a reliable name for the greenish-blue emission nebula in the upper center has been found (OGLE SMC-SC5 185177).
The Small Magellanic Cloud is one of our satellites and shows a huge rate of star formation (see wide field image and more info here). This high rate of star formation is accomplished by having huge Hydrogen clouds. The nebulae are fueled by young open clusters like OGLE 34 or SMC-N12A. Actually, NGC 261 is the bluish (OIII-rich) nebula just at the lower right of center, while other NGC denominations are given for other nebulosities in this field, as well as a Blue SuperGiant (BBB SMC 266, see annotated image below).
Additional Information
Object
Name(s): NGC 261
Type: Emission Nebula
RA: 00h 46m 30s
Dec: -73º 06’ 21”
Constellation: Tucana
Size (arcmin): 1.5×1.5
Magnitude: +13.1
Distance: 200,000 ly
Image
Date: 2018-08-01 to 2018-10-31 and 2019-10-20 to 2019-11-05
Location: iTelescope.net, SSO near Coonabarabran, NSW Australia
Size (arcmin): 50×34 arcmin
Telescope: Planewave CDK 20” f/6.8
Camera: SBIG STX16803 (4096x4096pix)
Guiding: Astrodon MonsterMOAG off-axis guider
Total exposure: 29.5 hours (Ha: 16.5h; OIII: 10h; RGB: 3h)
Processing: CCDStack, Photoshop CC 2020