Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Perseus (Per)  ·  Contains:  B25  ·  LBN 742  ·  LBN 744  ·  LBN 755  ·  LDN 1444  ·  LDN 1465  ·  NGC 1605  ·  PK158+00.1  ·  Sh2-216

Image of the day 01/14/2022

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    Sh2-216 The largest and second closest PN, Göran Nilsson
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    Sh2-216 The largest and second closest PN

    Image of the day 01/14/2022

    Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
      Sh2-216 The largest and second closest PN, Göran Nilsson
      Powered byPixInsight

      Sh2-216 The largest and second closest PN

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      Description

      In terms of angular size Sh2-216 is the largest planetary nebulae in the sky, being about 3x wider than the moon as seen from earth (although it is too faint to be seen). It is about 500 000 years old, explaining why it is so very large and very dim. Sh2-216 is also the second closest planetary nebula at a distance of 400 light years.

      LBN 755 (down to the left) was apparently missed by Sharpless in his catalogue, which is a bit surprising because there are three more Sharpless objects just to the left of this frame, as seen in my recent image: https://www.astrobin.com/pfyppk/

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      Sh2-216 The largest and second closest PN, Göran Nilsson