This small magnitude 16.5 planetary nebula is located 4500 light years away in the constellation of Cygnus at a declination of +45 degrees.  The central bright torus region spans 13 arc-seconds in our apparent view.  This corresponds to a diameter of 0.3 light years.

This PN was discovered by the Czech astronomer Dr. Luboš Kohoutek.  Dr. Kohoutek discovered over 300 new PNe over his lifetime, many of which now bear his name.  Kohoutek PN are numbered K 1-xx, K 2-xx, K 3-xx, up to K 6-xx, corresponding to their discovery publication.  Objects in the later publications are typically dimmer, more stellar-like, and less exciting, but this K4 object is an exception to that rule.  Other Kohoutek PNe can be seen in my collection here.

According to this paper and by my estimation, we are looking at this PN at an angle about 30 degrees from end-on.  It appears to be a bi-polar PN with the bi-polar axis projected horizontally in this image.  Each lobe, left and right, has had significant breakout such that the outer extents are too faint to be visible.

This PN is fascinating and unique for 3 reasons:

1.  The bright central torus is small compared to the outer bright HII rim, such that the torus rim only extends about halfway from the PN center to the bright HII rim.  Compare this to the Helix for example.

2.  This PN has a fascinating point symmetry component to the outer HII rim.  Many PNe have point symmetry, but in all other cases I have seen (see my point symmetry collection here), this symmetry is due to the behavior of the polar jets, not the HII rim.  In the case of this PN, I think that the point symmetry is an illusion of sorts, caused by our viewing angle, the effect of the surrounding ISM and possibly some unsymmetric mass ejection from the unseen, likely binary progenitor star.

3.  Although the polar axis of the PN here is horizontal, the torus appears as a horizontal oval.  It should appear as a vertical oval.  The paper referenced above says that the torus has "intriguing kinematics, indicating a likely presence of rotation".

Most PNe that I image surprise me in one way or another, and this one is no exception.