This
Astrobin Debut Object is located 15,000 light years away in the constellation of Taurus at a declination of +25 degrees.
This is the only object I know which has a galaxy designation (V ZW 375), a planetary nebula designation (Haro 3-29), and a star designation (GL Tau). So, what is it? The earliest work by Dr. Haro (1953) concluded that this is a variable star with a surrounding nebula, but this work in Mexico was not widely known. Later work by Dr. Zwicky resulted in its designation as V ZW 375, a compact galaxy. But then work by Dr. Sargent (1970) concluded that this object was in our galaxy and was a planetary nebula. Measurements by Dr. Romano (1974) indicated that the central star is variable from 15.7 to 17.5.
Although it has the shape of a ring galaxy, the colors and the central star suggest that it is a nebula. It is likely a planetary nebula, but if so, it is one of the most unusual ones in the universe. The asymmetric shape, the void area just below the central star, and the location of the emission regions (HII inside and OIII at the top) are very unusual.
This object has a diameter of 30 arc-seconds, which at a distance of 15,000 light years corresponds to a diameter of 2 light years. This is a typical diameter for a planetary nebula.
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