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This very unusual object is a Wolf Rayet Bubble enclosed in an envelope of emission nebulosity. The bubble forms when a fierce stellar wind from a hot star blows a hollow sphere of gasses into space from its outer atmosphere, and forms a bluish green colored bubble. The background nebulosity is related in some way, which is currently under study.

This object is terribly faint. I could not see it to frame it without at least a good 10 seconds or more of binned exposure. Composition is absolutely critical on this object, in that the outer filamentary detail must fit accurately in the half degree field. This object has many nick names. It is called the Duck here in Arizona amongst the contingent of visual observers, and elsewhere "Thors Helmet" and some other amusing names. None are truly official, however such a fascinating object should bear a name for sure.

This is my longest exposure yet with the 12.5 ", a total of 5h 10m of exposure time accumulated over a period of 3 months when I had the time.

Instrument:  12.5" f/5 Home made Newtonian
Platform:  Astrophysics 1200 QMD
CCD Camera:  SBIG ST8i NABG
Guider: SBIG ST4
Exposure:  (Ha+R)RGB = 230:20:20:40 (RGB Binned 2x2)
RGB Combine Ratio:  1: .8: 1.2
Filters:  RGB Tricolor
Location:  Payson, Arizona
Elevation:  5150 ft.
Sky:  Seeing FWHM = 4.0 arcsec (Maxim DL - 10min subframe), Transparency 8/10
Outside Temperature:  5 C
CCD Temperature:  -20 C
Processing Tools:  Maxim DL, RG Sigma, Photoshop, AIP4WIN, PW Pro, RW Debloomer.

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