FaintFuzzies
August 30th, 2020, 09:37 PM
Object of the Week – Egg Nebula. PK 80-6.1, CRL 2688
Cons: Cygnus
RA: 21 02 18.7 Dec: +36 41 40
Size: 30x15” Mag: 14.0
The Egg Nebula is a bipolar protoplanetary nebula located in Cygnus at a distance of about 3000 light years
I think it is pretty cool observing bipolar protoplanetary nebulae through fairly large telescopes. When you bump up the magnification under good seeing, you start to see symmetrical structure on these objects. The Egg Nebula is no exception and is probably one of the brighter and better place objects for northern hemisphere observers.
My notes (copied from my website) with my 22” reflector at 306, 383 and 690x: Beautiful view at 690x. The NNE lobe is about twice as large as the SSW lobe. The lobes look like two triangles pointed at each other. NNE lobe is 15x8” and the SSW lobe is 8x5”.
Since protoplanetary nebula are planetaries in very early stages, its spectra is still fairly broad versus planetary nebulae. As a result, most protoplanetary nebulae, including the Egg Nebula, do not respond much at all to narrowband or O-III filters.
3992
Image from the Hubble Space Telescope
3991
Image from the Digital Sky Survey
As always, give it a go and let us know.
Cons: Cygnus
RA: 21 02 18.7 Dec: +36 41 40
Size: 30x15” Mag: 14.0
The Egg Nebula is a bipolar protoplanetary nebula located in Cygnus at a distance of about 3000 light years
I think it is pretty cool observing bipolar protoplanetary nebulae through fairly large telescopes. When you bump up the magnification under good seeing, you start to see symmetrical structure on these objects. The Egg Nebula is no exception and is probably one of the brighter and better place objects for northern hemisphere observers.
My notes (copied from my website) with my 22” reflector at 306, 383 and 690x: Beautiful view at 690x. The NNE lobe is about twice as large as the SSW lobe. The lobes look like two triangles pointed at each other. NNE lobe is 15x8” and the SSW lobe is 8x5”.
Since protoplanetary nebula are planetaries in very early stages, its spectra is still fairly broad versus planetary nebulae. As a result, most protoplanetary nebulae, including the Egg Nebula, do not respond much at all to narrowband or O-III filters.
3992
Image from the Hubble Space Telescope
3991
Image from the Digital Sky Survey
As always, give it a go and let us know.