What PN is this??

[mill]

I believe i shot a planetary nebula last night and have been looking what it is but cant find it :shrug:
It was taken at about 10:30Pm north close to zenith.
First shot is the uncropped version and second shot is a cropped version.

[glenc]

The PN is NGC2438 and the open cluster is M46.

[mill]

Thank you Glen :)
That will be the Calabash or rotten egg nebula LOL.

[RobF]

Nice cluster that, and the PN is a nice surprise. Was imaging some Messier objects I'd never observed before last month and had just such a pleasant surprise at the eyepiece and looking at the pic afterwards. Definitely a new favourite.

[mill]

Thank you Rob.
Sometimes you take a picture and get a nice surprice in return :)

[Merlin66]

Rob,
I think you may have another planetary in your image... just to the left of centre there's a prominent red object...
According to CdC this could be BRT1890, mag +14, at 7h42m33.1s -14d22'26"

[RobF]

It was Martin's handiwork Merlin...
I can see a dark red object left of centre in the cropped view (2nd image he posted) - I think that's the one you're referring too? (interesting....)

[Merlin66]

Yes, that's the one!
After 20 years of training in the Astrophotography section of the ASV; I tend to look for anything unusual in any image!!
Just ask what happened with Nova Musca!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[barx1963]

This little PN is a personal favourite as it was the first PN I saw using a neb filter while observing M46.

I think the other PN is listed in Uranometria as P231.4+4.3

Malc olm

[Quark]

Hi Martin,

This is a most interesting PN and I see Glen has identified it for you.
It does look excellent with the back drop of M46 behind it, however it has a different proper motion to the stars in M46 and therefore is not associated with that cluster.

Also, there is some dispute over the magnitude of the central star or white dwarf within it. Burnhams lists it as mag 16 but I have seen it in scopes down to 8 inch.

Regards
Trevor

[RobF]

Ok - out with it! What happened with Nova Musca!? :computer:

[Merlin66]

In 1983 I was still organising the ASV Astrophotographic section. We would meet regularly every month and "review" the slides etc taken by the members over tea and coffee. I've got to say, sitting there with Becvar's Atlas, the Variable Star Atlas, etc etc and checking each slide was see as the "boring" part of the meeting; many of the members would have been happy with a quick "Ohhh Ahhhh"
Well, on one of our slides was a definate RED image in Musca... could n't find anything on the atlases....
It was officially discovered by Liller a few days AFTER our image was taken!!!!!!
Moral of the story- NEVER throw an image away; take the time to check each and every image for "suspects".
A bit easier today with the capabilities of CdC, TheSky etc.
Never forget that loss of opportunity. ( Did get mentioned in S&T at the time)

[mill]

Thank you everyone for the very good information :thumbsup:
At least now i know what is in this photo :)