Saturday, August 31, 2024

Bright Planetary Nebulae (all night)

Planetary nebulae, a term coined because they visually resemble a small planet's disk, are the corpses of low mass stars like our sun. This plentiful class of objects are distributed throughout the sky, and exhibit a wide
variety of shapes and structures. The brightest planetaries visible on mid- August evenings include the Cat's Eye Nebula (NGC 6543) in Draco, the Ring Nebula (Messier 57 or NGC 6720) in Lyra, the Dumbbell Nebula (Messier 27 or
NGC 6853) in Vulpecula, and the Blinking Planetary (NGC 6826) in Cygnus. The Blue Snowball (NGC 7662) in Andromeda is visible in late evening. More southerly observers can take a look at the Bug Nebula (NGC 6302) in Scorpius, and the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) in Aquarius. High magnification is required to see structure, and an OIII filter will enhance the planetary nebula while darkening the surrounding sky and the stars in the field of view.

(Data courtesy of Starry Night)
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* Origin: CJ's Place, Orange City FL > cjsplace.thruhere.net (21:2/156)