In 1959, astronomer Stewart Sharpless, working at the
U.S. Naval Observatory in Flagstaff, published a second
edition of his comprehensive catalog of emission nebulae
visible in the northern hemisphere. His catalog contained 312 objects.
5 of those objects appear in this image of an area in the constellation
Orion, near the feet of Gemini. At the upper left is the dim and yellowish
Sh 258. To the right of that is the brightest object in this collection,
Sh 255 (also cataloged as IC 2162). Next to the right is the slightly
smaller Sh 257, with the tiny Sh 256 below it. The largest
area is Sh 254. Between Sh 255 and Sh 257 is another yellowish
nebula which apparently failed to get a numbering of its own.

All of these objects are part of the same complex and active
interstellar cloud about 8000 light years from earth.

Image data:
Telescope: Hyperion 12.5"
Camera: SBIG STL-11000
Exposure: 16 hours (4 hours hydrogen-alpha, 4 hours luminance, 8 hours RGB)