This planetary nebula is located 2500 light years away in the constellation of Hydra at a declination of -3 degrees. It is a magnitude 13 PN which spans 4 arc-minutes in our apparent view. This corresponds to a diameter of 3 light years. This object is the 33rd entry in the
Abell PN Catalogue.
The bright blue star on the lower right rim of the PN is the 7.2 magnitude star HD 83535. This star is in the foreground, at about 700 light years away. Together, the nebula and the star create a sparkling effect such that this PN is known as the Diamond Ring Nebula.
This PN has been described as “one of the rare objects showing a nearly perfect circular disk among the known extended planetary nebulae”. My collection of spherical planetary nebulae is shown
here.
The progenitor star, just above and right of the center of the PN, appears to be a double star. The brighter star is the characteristic cyan color, but there is also a smaller orange star visible.
The PN appears to have 2 faint void areas on either side of the progenitor, similar to the darker voids in a typical
Owl-type PN.
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