Planetary Nebula Abell 61

Abell 61
Abell 61: Planetary Nebula in Cygnus; 500 mm Cassegrain 3625 mm f/7.2; SBIG STL11K; 520-90-90-90 min LRGB; Bernese Highlands; © 2017 Radek Chromik

History

This planetary nebula was discovered in 1955 by the American astronomer George Ogden Abell on the photo plates of the «Palomar Observatory Sky Survey» (POSS). In 1955 he published a first list of 13 globular clusters and the positions of 73 planetary nebulae. The PN first had the number 49 (A55 49). In 1966 Abell published a complete list including the size and description of the 86 planetary nebulae discovered on the POSS photo plates. This planetary nebula was then number 61 on his list. The designation PK 77+14.1 comes from the two Czechoslovak astronomers Luboš Perek and Luboš Kohoutek, who in 1967 compiled a catalog of all the planetary nebulae of the Milky Way known at that time. [331, 332]

Physical Properties

Abell 61 is an old and very faint planetary nebula. Magnitudes through different filters are: B 17.05, V 17.39. The distance to Earth is 1559 pc. [145]

«Strasbourg-ESO Catalogue of Galactic Planetary Nebulae» Acker et al., 1992 [141]
DesignationsPN G077.6+14.7: A 61, PK 77+14.1, A55 49, VV' 495
Right Ascension (J2000.0)19h 19m 10s a
Declination (J2000.0)+46° 14' 36" a
Dimensions 200." (optical)
Radial Velocity-48.0 km/s ± km/s
Expansion Velocity 32. km/s (O-III), > 30. km/s (N-II)
C-Star DesignationsAG82 365, CSI +46 -19177, UBV 16374
C-Star Magnitude15.82 mag (U filter), 17.05 mag (B filter), 17.39 mag (V filter)
DiscovererABELL 1955

Finder Chart

This planetary nebula can be found in the constellation Cygnus and is highest in the sky from the months March through December.

Chart Planetary Nebula Abell 61
Planetary Nebula Abell 61 in constellation Cygnus. Chart created using SkySafari 6 Pro and STScI Digitized Sky Survey. [149, 160]

Visual Observation

Pending ...

More Objects Nearby (±15°)

References

141Strasbourg-ESO Catalogue of Galactic Planetary Nebulae; A. Acker, F. Ochsenbein, B. Stenholm, R. Tylenda, J. Marcout, C. Schohn; European Southern Observatory; ISBN 3-923524-41-2 (1992); Bibcode:1992secg.book.....A
145SIMBAD astronomical database; simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad
149SkySafari 6 Pro, Simulation Curriculum; skysafariastronomy.com
160The STScI Digitized Sky Survey; archive.stsci.edu/cgi-bin/dss_form
331«Globular Clusters and Planetary Nebulae Discovered on the National Geographic Society-Palomar Observatory Sky Survey» Abell, G. O.; Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 67, No. 397, p.258-261, August 1955; DOI:10.1086/126815; Bibcode:1955PASP...67..258A
332«Properties of Some Old Planetary Nebulae» Abell, G. O.; Astrophysical Journal, vol. 144, p.259, April 1966; DOI:10.1086/148602; Bibcode:1966ApJ...144..259A