At 360mm FL and in my neck of the woods, planetary nebulae aren't exactly jumping out of the sky to be imaged, but I've always wanted to have a go at the Medusa nebula. Imaging low towards the south is a challenge from my backyard as my house is in the way (the cheek!) but I imaged Medusa in small 2-hour increments for many nights in a row, through a lot of gauzy cloud and poor atmospheric conditions. I look forward to returning with my AT92 to do it more justice!
Discovered in 1955 by George O. Abell himself, the Medusa nebula is about 4ly across and about 1,500ly distant. The PG 1159 star thought to be responsible for the ultraviolet radiation ionizing the surrounding gas is located near the centre of the crescent shape, but
recent studies regarding PNs suggest at least two stars may be responsible for many of these complex and compelling objects - maybe there are more mysteries here to discover!
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