Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Lyra (Lyr)
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Kronberger 61, Gary Imm
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Kronberger 61

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Kronberger 61, Gary Imm
Powered byPixInsight

Kronberger 61

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Description

This object, Kr 61, is a rarely imaged very faint planetary nebula located 13,000 light years away in the constellation of Cygnus. The nebula is about 1.5 arc-minutes in width in our apparent view, which corresponds to a diameter of 6 light years. The bluish central star is clearly visible.

The nebula was discovered by amateur astronomer Matthias Kronberger in 2011 by examining older sky surveys. This nebula is much further away than most nebulae I have imaged. Although it is far away it is not small in our view, which means that it is an older nebula which has had time to expand. This is why it appears diffuse and dim in our view compared to most other PN. I like the placement of the bright bluish star in the image, adjacent to the nebula.

The nickname of this object is the soccer ball nebula, although in my image it does not really look like one. I obviously need a lot more integration time which I hope to obtain next season.

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