NGC 7008
Sketch and Details by Ferenc Lovró
NGC 7008 (planetary nebula)
Date/time: 2008.09.02 23:00 UT
Equipment: 12″ f/5 Newtonian
FOV: 12′ Mag: 250x
Seeing: 6/10 Transparency: 4/5
A very large planetary nebula in the Cygnus constellation, also known as the Fetus nebula. Its naming perfectly suits its look, which is very conspicuous. It’s an asymmetrical shell with widely varying brightness and an enormously shiny area to the NE. The central star is 13.2 magnitude, easily detectable because it is surrounded by dark areas. To the east, you may notice another star of the similar colour and luminosity. I cannot see any hint of colour throughout the planetary. It’s a nice object even at low powers of around 100x thanks to its relatively high surface brightness, therefore it may be a reachable target for small telescopes too. I’ve tried using my UHC filter, but the results were worse than without it.
Ferenc,
Impressive sketch of an unusual looking planetary nebula.
Frank
Ferenc,
I like this very much indeed. I must catch up with this very interesting PN myself.
Thanks for sharing, Dale