Surprisingly Bright PN's

[Paul73]

I'm developing a bit of a thing for planetary nebulae. These relatively easy targets mostly jump through the eyepiece and come in a wide array of shapes & sizes. And they seem to take magnification well. Here is a selection of the "showcase examples" from the last few weeks observing (ranks in terms of viewing pleasure!!):

1/ Ring M57 - A favourite. I've yet to see the central star in the foggy middle of the bright outer ring.

2/ Dumbbell M27 - Bigger than the ring. Like a hazy rugby ball with a bright bow tie across its girth.

3/ Cat Eye NGC6543 - Obviously eye shaped, until you realise that you are looking at the central iris element (I couldn't get much of the surrounding circle of nebulousity to make the full Cat's eye).

4/ Blue Snowball NGC7662 - Like it says on the tin! A hazy blue star under low mag. Some detail at 200x.

5/ Saturn NGC7009 (the PN not the planet) - Bright. Looks like a fat Saturn though really rubbish seeing.

6/ Owl M97 - A fuzzy ball of haze with two darker holes for the eyes.

7/ Little Dumbbell M76 - Two little lobes. Very like the bright bits of its bigger namesake.

The Blinking and Magic Carpet PN's are next on the list! Once winter rolls around the Eskimo is a great target a well.

An OIII filter isn't essential by any stretch, but it will help bring out the detail on many of these targets.

Any other stand out PN's anybody??

Paul

[Qualia]

Lovely list, Paul At the end of this rather long post are a few useful links which might be of interest.

I've had quite a number of sessions this last fortnight and have been quite taken back with:

NGC 6905 in Delphinus

NGC 7293 in Aquarius

NGC 6804 in Aquila

NGC 6818 in Sagittarius

NGC 6905 in Delphinus

NGC 7027 in Cygnus

NGC 6781 in Aquila

If I get a chance after work and/or if the skies are cloudy tonight, I will try to scan in the sketches I have made of these metamorphosing stars

[cotterless45]

Beautiful targets, even from town. I was very surprised at how bright NGC 7027 is. Always worth checking these out and tring some high magnification to spot any signs of a halo,

Nick.

[acey]

And of course PNs actually respond to filters, which makes them especially good targets for light-polluted skies - though the Blinking Nebula needs to be seen without filter for the blink effect to work.

[JRWASTRO]

I hope it's not too late to reply. Here is a link that may be of use:

http://www.southastrodel.com/Page090.htm

Last winter was particularly humid and wet so I did not get to photograph my " nemesis" :

" GJJC1, the Planetary Nebula in M22 "

I just might photograph next winter.

Jeremy.

[scarp15]

One of my own favourites is the Eskimo Nebula NGC 2392 Gemini and soon to once more look forward to. As Acey has commented quite bright and can be picked up in light polluted skies. At least that was the case with an OIII and my former C8 observing from an area near to the Town Moor in Newcastle, so it cannot be too hard to track.

[Lanius]

Thanks for this thread. Some old favourites mentioned plus some new targets for me to look for.