This small planetary nebula has an unusualy bright central star which
is surrounded by a faint nebula. Why is it known as the blinking
nebula? When observing this planetary through a telescope, when you
look at the star, the nebula dissappears. When you look slightly away,
the nebula suddenly reappears. This occurs because the eye is more
sensitive slightly to one side of the center of vision. The two bright
patches to the lower left and upper right of the nebula have caused
much debate and are still not well understood.
Date
16th July 2006 (L), 17th July 2006 (RGB)
Telescope
250mm F4.8 Newtonian Reflector with coma corrector
Filter
Clear
Exposure (seconds)
1xbin 28 x 60s Luminance
2xbin 39 x 15s Red, 39 x 15s Green, 39 x 15s Blue
