Saturday, January 5, 2008

PK 111-2.1 (Hubble 12)

In my previous post I talked about my observation of PK 111-2.1. This is what I mentioned:

PK 111-2.1 – planetary nebula of 2” of mag 13.0 in Cassiopeia
This nebula is situated next to 2 faint stars. So I should see 3 stars, but unfortunately I can see only 2. One star is a bit brighter than the other one. Both stars are of mag 11.5 and 11.7 so I have to conclude I don't seen PK 111-2.1. Who could confirm the nebula is fainter than those 2 stars? Note:
http://www.deepskylog.be/ gives magnitude 14.0. Eye&Telescope gives mag 13.0

Well, after some discussions on the dutch astronomy mailing list it seems I have been able to see the planetary. The nebula itself is of magnitude 11.9, the central star is of magnitude 14.0.
A picture of http://www.blackskies.org/ confirms the situation (I'm not sure I'm allowed to post this picture, so if you are interested please go to the blackskies website).

Whenever the sky is clear I will observe once more this object.

Clear Skies

Olivier