Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Perseus (Per)  ·  Contains:  PK149-09.1  ·  The star 36 Per
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HDW 3, Gary Imm
HDW 3, Gary Imm

HDW 3

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HDW 3, Gary Imm
HDW 3, Gary Imm

HDW 3

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Description

This object, known as Hartl-Dengel-Weinberger 3 (HDW 3), PK149.09-1, and PN G149.4-09.2, is a dim ancient planetary nebula located 3000 light years away in the constellation of Perseus at a declination of +45 degrees.  It is a magnitude 17 PN which spans 13 arc-minutes in our apparent view.  This corresponds to a diameter of 11 light years.

This subline object is unusual for a PN.  Its massive size indicates that it is old, and in fact one half of the PN has already diffused into space.  The remaining half is fascinating – an unusual outer rim of primarily OIII, surrounding an inner rim of HII.  The edges of this inner HII rim are scalloped.  I have imaged 260 PNe so far and none have looked like this one.

The progenitor star appears to be the characteristic small cyan seen just above and left of the center of the PN, just below the bright orange star.  

In the background is a wide ribbon of HII which almost surrounds the PN.  My guess is that this is just coincidence and that the 2 objects are unrelated.  Faint HII nebulosity shows up nearby as well.

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HDW 3, Gary Imm