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NGC 2371-2 Planetary Nebula in Gemini


John

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This is a new one for me. It's listed as magnitude 13 and is by no means easy under my skies. It's not far from Castor and seems to be a small faint twin cored structure, hence the two NGC numbers. It's been dubbed the Gemini or Peanut nebula - I can understand the latter because of it's twin lobed shape. Unlike many planetary nebulae NGC 2371-2 does not seem to respond to O-III filters or my DGM NBP UHC-type filter. It's better seen filterless in fact. I picked it up at 122x but it was more strongly defined at 199x. I'm using my 12" dob tonight.

Anyone else seen this one recently ?

Nice to pick up a new planetary :smiley:

The Eskimo Nebula is not too far away from this one (well a finder field or two anyway !) but is much brighter.

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It is a lot easier than the mag 13 listing suggests. I found it very easy in my C8. A clear bilobate planetary. Did try my UHC filter, which dimmed surrounding stars, but did not bring out more detail in the nebula. I have found that quite a few planetary nebulae are a lot easier than their magnitude suggest. A good many mag 13 planetaries are listed in the 100 brightest planetary nebulae list, and many of them are comparatively easy in my C8. MUCH easier than a galaxy of the same magnitude

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Have you seen this one tonight with the moon? It's on my list of targets but I was going to wait until I could get to a dark site (and no moon)

Yes, I've been observing it while waiting for Jupiter to clear the trees :smiley:

I agree with Michael and was surprised to find it listed as mag 13. It wasn't exactly easy tonight with my 12" but the Moon would not be helping so I'll have another look on a darker night.

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Yes, I've been observing it while waiting for Jupiter to clear the trees :smiley:

I agree with Michael and was surprised to find it listed as mag 13. It wasn't exactly easy tonight with my 12" but the Moon would not be helping so I'll have another look on a darker night.

I will have a go from my garden - but the moon might prove to  much. May be I will wait until it's out of the way. I agree it's always good when you pick out a new planetary.

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With hindsight I don't know why I decided to seach this one out. With the Moon at around 50% illumination and positioned where it is it was never going to be a good night for faint DSO's in that part of the sky :rolleyes2:

I'm sure it will be easier to find and look somewhat better under a dark sky.

You can tell I'm not a seasoned DSO hunter !

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Had the pleasure of visiting NGC 2371/72 about a month ago. If I recall, the double wasn't a difficult find and took magnification rather well. I have heard some observers being able to see the small white dwarf at its core, but as can be seen from the sketch below, I don't have that kind of eyesight :grin:.

Other nice doubles along similar lines is M 76 and NGC 2440.

post-21324-0-41093000-1424996800.jpg

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Certainly a lot easier than suggested. I picked this up in my 8" Newt , but with no Moon and little light pollution. Worth a shot,

Nick.

Of course I chose a moonlit night just to make it harder ! :rolleyes2:

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What a coincedence. I have been working my way through the Herschel 400 and only recently ticked 2371 and 2 off. I was fortunate to be at the Winter Star Party last week and could not find it in my 4". My neighbour had a 16" and kindly found it. It's a beaut through the larger scope. Two lobes, one brighter than the other and a central star in the middle. Definitely one to return to me thinks.

Mark

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Hi John, I stumbled across this on 19 Feb - see my notes below. Lovely object - I like the alternative names you used.

Final Gemini object of the evening was NGC 2371-2, the Double Bubble Nebula, a planetary nebula. This was a straightforward hop from a trio of stars that formed the apex of a triangle pointing west from Castor and Pollux. I was excited about the fantastic name! In the 32mm at x47 it was a distinct smudge, not unlike the Dumbell at low power although not as bright. In the 12mm at x125 it was still reasonably bright and acquired an apple core or egg-timer shape, sitting in a pleasant star field. It was elongated SW-NE, with lobes appearing at either end. Moving up to x250 via the Barlow the lobes became more pronounced. The lobe at the NE seemed bigger, with a fainter, concentric outer edge. The SW lobe had a brighter, more concentrated centre.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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