This image is a short exposure with the two planetary nebulae in HOO and the stars in HGB. M46 and NGC 2438 have different radial velocities and so their alignment is likely just due to line of sight. Minkowski 1-18 is a bonus PN in the same field. The insets in this image are, of course, digitally enlarged only. The dwarf star at the center of NGC 2438 has a surface temperature of about 75,000°C!

I recently completed imaging 90 planetary nebulae for the Astronomical League Observing Program. I enjoyed them all, but, admittedly, with my optical system many just resembled a green star. Some PNs are large well-known imaging targets e.g., M27 and NGC 7293, but I found several others that are relatively infrequently imaged and have the potential to be interesting targets even in fields of view like mine (about 56’ x 45’). Some interested me because they were relatively large, some because they had an interesting structure, and some had another deep sky object in the field. Here is a list of my long exposure candidates:

Month I Shot them; Name; Constellation; RA & Dec; Size; Comment

2020-09; IC 1295; Scutum; 18 54 37.2 -08 49 39; 1.7’; Globular cluster NGC 6712 is also in the field.

2020-09; NGC 6445; Sgt; 17 49 15.1 -20 00 34; 35”;The Little Gem. .Globular Cluster NGC 6440 is also in the field.

2020-09; NGC 6781; Aquila; 19 18 28.1 +06 32 19; 1.9’; The Snowglobe. Interesting structure.

2020-09; NGC 650, M76; Perseus; 01 42 19.9 +51 34 31; 2.7’; The Little Dumbbell. Interesting structure.

2020-10; Sh1-89; Cygnus; 21 14 7.6 +47 46 22; 1.1’; The Moth. Interesting structure.

2020-10; NGC 7048; Cygnus; 21 14 15.2 +46 17 18; 1.0’; Interesting structure.

2020-10; NGC 1514; Taurus; 04 09 17 +30 46 33; 2.0’; The Crystal Ball. Interesting structure.

2020-11; JnEr1; Lynx; 07 57 51.6 +53 25 17; 6.3’; The Headphone. Interesting structure and relatively large.

2020-12; NGC 2438; Puppis; 07 41 51.4 -14 43 55; 1.1’; Open cluster M46 and PN Mi1-18 are also in the field.