Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Aquila (Aql)  ·  Contains:  NGC 6781  ·  PK041-02.1
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Ghost of the Moon Nebula (NGC6781), DoubleStarPhotography
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Ghost of the Moon Nebula (NGC6781)

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Ghost of the Moon Nebula (NGC6781), DoubleStarPhotography
Powered byPixInsight

Ghost of the Moon Nebula (NGC6781)

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Description

This object caught my attention as one of the many faint planetary nebulas I've never previously seen or imaged......and with Halloween right around the corner, and given it's name , I thought I'd give it a try! :-)

NGC 6781 is aptly named,  appearing as a extrremely faint, ghost like disk of light in my brief 10 second exposures when first attempting to find and aiign the object for imaging. (Brightness is stated at 11.4 for the nebula,  with the central white dwarf star at ~16.8 magnitude) 

This planetary nebula lies a few thousand light-years away towards the constellation of Aquila, and is approximately two light-years across. Within NGC 6781, shells of gas blown off from the faint, but very hot, central star’s surface are expanding out into space. These shells shine under the harsh ultraviolet radiation from the parent star in intricate and beautiful patterns.

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