The Soap Bubble Nebula with a central parent star: A close-up crop (Miran Brezočnik)

The Soap Bubble Nebula with a central parent star: A close-up crop

I captured this image of the Soap Bubble Planetary Nebula using a refracting telescope SW Esprit 120ED APO with a lens diameter of 120 mm (4.7") and a monochrome camera QHY268M. The total exposure time was 13 h 30 min. The image is processed in HOO colour palette with the RGB stars.

The Soap Bubble Planetary Nebula formed towards the end of its parent star's life cycle. The nebula is composed of dust and gases expelled by the central parent star.

The almost perfect round shape of the nebula is surprising. However, after measuring its eccentricity, I found that its shape closely resembles an ellipse with axes of 1 and approximately 0.93. The central parent star, from which the nebula emerged, shines very faintly with an apparent magnitude of 19.45 (please see reference [1] for details). To put this into perspective, the faint central star visible in the picture shines about 24 million times dimmer than the well-known star Spica in the constellation of Virgo, which is visible without optical aids. The distance to the nebula is approximately 4500 light years, and its size is 5 light years.

Equipment and acquisition details:

Main object: The Soap Bubble Planetary Nebula - A close-up crop • Telescope Sky Watcher Esprit 120ED APO @ f/7 • Monochrome camera QHY268M, -10 °C, gain 56, offset 20 • Mount Sky Watcher AZ-EQ6 PRO • Filters Astronomik for Ha and OIII (6 nm); filters Astronomik for RGB • Total exposure time 13 h 30 min: (HOO nebula: Ha 35 × 600 s, OIII 40 x 600 s); (RGB stars: 1 h) • Calibration frames: 65 bias, 65 flats • Processed in PixInsight • Average sky quality: 21.50 mag/arc sec2 • June-July 2023

References:

[1] Acker, A.; et al. (Oktober 2012). "Discovery of New Faint Northern Galactic Planetary Nebulae". Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica. 48: 223–233.

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Description: A central parent star

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Status	Advanced success
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	8450943
PixInsight job	CZ63Z5KGERGZNZGC5P3GG9YBV6VDYNMF
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	TASK_LOG

RA (center)	20h15m22s.326
RA (top/left)	20h14m34s.481
RA (top/right)	20h15m18s.481
RA (bottom/right)	20h16m10s.179
RA (bottom/left)	20h15m26s.231

Dec (center)	+38°02′50″.40
Dec (top/left)	+38°04′01″.43
Dec (top/right)	+37°53′21″.66
Dec (bottom/right)	+38°01′37″.66
Dec (bottom/left)	+38°12′18″.65

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The Soap Bubble Nebula with a central parent star: A close-up crop

The Soap Bubble Nebula with a central parent star: A close-up crop

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The Soap Bubble Nebula with a central parent star: A close-up crop

The Soap Bubble Nebula with a central parent star: A close-up crop

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