Clown face nebula

[part timer]

After not getting out for ages I've had some good luck recently.

Only had a few minutes so I took my tiny 90mm mak out on a tripod.

I've never looked for the clown face nebula before (no reason for this, it just seems to have always been in the wrong direction until now)

It is a planetary in Gemini and I can't believe I've never seen it before!

This is the brightest planetary I've seen. It was MUCH brighter than M27

and MUCH bigger than M57. Even my little mak could make out mottling within it.

In short it's an excellent target for small scopes!

[mdstuart]

Yes it is nice and bright. You must also try the one in Drac 6543 (cats eye) which is similiar but low down at the moment.

Mark

[part timer]

Thanks,

I'll have a go at that one too!

[dogfish]

As a big fan of planetary nebulae, I'll have to have a look. Has it got an NGC number?

Cheers, Martin

[John]

As a big fan of planetary nebulae, I'll have to have a look. Has it got an NGC number?

Cheers, Martin

Hi Martin,

It's NGC 2392 also known as the Eskimo Nebula. It's been a long while since I last looked at that one - I must have another look at it !.

John

[Andrew*]

Must try this one - sounds fantastic. Thanks for the heads up.

Andrew

[stefski]

This is one of my favourites too.... I looked at it the other day using my new Watec video camera...awesome detail....May post a sketch soon!

stef

[Sam]

The eskimo is certainly a bright one. The halo is very clear around the bright core. Great spotting!

[dogfish]

Hi Martin,

It's NGC 2392 also known as the Eskimo Nebula. It's been a long while since I last looked at that one - I must have another look at it !.

John

Thanks John. I think I have seen it before, but not for a while. Must go back to it.

cheers, Martin

[acey]

It's one of the fairly few deep-sky objects that looks really good from my light polluted garden. Responds well to a nebula filter too. With an 8" at a dark site I see mottling and some detail, with a 12" I get a clear view of the gap separating the "face" from the "hood" (i.e. the partial outer ring). But the face itself is only really seen well in photographs, I think. It got called Eskimo because of the hood, and Clown nebula because of the face - in Burnham's Celestial Handbook it bears a distinct resemblance to W.C. Fields.

Andrew