This
Astrobin Debut Object is a planetary nebula located in the constellation of Cygnus at a declination of +34 degrees. It is a magnitude 16.4 PN which spans 1 arc-minute in our apparent view. I could find no distance information for this object. If it is the typical 1 to 2 light year PN diameter, the distance is 3000 to 6000 light years away.
The HII signal is much stronger than the OIII signal for this PN.
This PN was discovered by the Czech astronomer Dr. Luboš Kohoutek. Dr. Kohoutek discovered over 300 new PNe over his lifetime, many of which now bear his name. The catalogue consists of the K 1-xx, K 2-xx, and K 3-xx designations (up to K 6-xx) corresponding to their discovery publications. As the list progresses to 2-xx, 3-xx, and beyond, the objects become smaller, more faint and more challenging to image. But this one is an exception, being fairly large and bright yet being a K3 designation. Some of the other Kohoutek PNe I have imaged are seen
here.
This is a great PN because it shows the
typical bipolar PN morphology so well, from a side-on viewing perspective. The bipolar axis is horizontal in this image. The constricting torus is seen as the vertical whitish oval ring at the center. The 2 bipolar end lobes, extending left and right, are both blown out. I don't see a progenitor star. This PN looks very similar to
Sh1-89.
Comments