Integrated Flux Nebulae

I recently read about integrated flux nebulae (IFN), whose name was coined by amateur astronomer Steve Mandel. Steve photographed and cataloged a number of objects at high galactic latitudes that were wispy, dusty nebulae, though uncatalogued by professional astronomers.

A quick visit to Steve's web site reveals his personal pursuit of identifying these objects, and what his research has uncovered about them. Steve's work on these objects has been recognized by the American Astronomical Society (2008 Chambliss Award for Amateur Achievement) and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (2008 Amateur Achievement Award). Professional astronomers have begun investigating these objects based on Steve's work.

In a recent email from Steve, he explains that the catalog will be renamed "Mandel Catalogue of Unexplored High-Latitude Galactic Dust Nebula". He continues his work on this project.

An observing plan containing the current list of integrated flux nebulae has been uploaded to the Plan Library which is available to licensed users of Deep-Sky Planner. It contains the list of objects and Steve's comments about each. Steve has kindly granted permission to use this information in Deep-Sky Planner.