Part of the fun of this hobby is the unexpected surprises one finds during imaging and processing, such my recent NGC 6337
image which was brighter, more detailed and more colorful than expected. Alas, not all objects result in such pleasant surprises. Which brings us to this latest object, Jacoby 1. Of course, I should have expected that an object discovered so recently, and with a name like Jacoby 1, would be a tough one, but this object is fainter than I had anticipated and a tough one for a backyard setup.
This object is a very faint planetary nebula located 2600 light years away in the constellation of Bootes. It was discovered in 1995 by Jacoby & van de Steene. The nebula is 10 arc-minutes in apparent diameter and has a true diameter of 7 light years.
The nebula appears spherical, with a bright section on the bottom edge. The central bright bluish star is visible. The tiny galaxy on the left edge of the right side of the ring is 2MASX J15212325+5221191. The signal is primarily OIII, with just a hint of Ha.
An object this faint needs much more integration time, which I hope to obtain in the coming seasons.
Comments