Located on the extreme northern border of Taurus, this photographically challenging object beckons at the zenith on warm August mornings before the start of twilight. This unusual planetary nebula has a brilliant 9.4 mag central star surrounded by a very dim and diffuse nebula. The combination makes for a difficult object to image satisfactorily, and LRGB type images would not work because of the stars brightness. This one was taken as an RGB, and had minimal blooming of the central star. The nebula itself is rated at 10th magnitude, and 1.9 arcmins in size. The inner disk is green in color, with a faint outer halo, seen dimly here.

Instrument:  12.5" f/5 Home made Newtonian
CCD Camera:  SBIG ST7E w/Enhanced Cooling
Exposure:  RGB = 20:20:20
Filters:  RGB Tricolor
Location:  Payson, Arizona
Elevation:  5150 ft.
Sky:  Seeing 8/10, Transparency 8/10
Outside Temperature:  19 C
CCD Temperature:  -20 C
Processing:  Maxim DL,  Photoshop, PW Pro.