NGC^7013&^NGC^706
3 :^
POSS- II^
/^ STSCI^
/^ CAL
TE
CH/^ PAL
OMAROBSERV
AT
ORY;^
EGG^ NEBULA:^NASA/^ HUBBLE^ HERITAGETEAM/^BILL^ SPARKS^ /RAGHVENDRASAHAI56 NOVEMBER 2019 • SKY & TELESCOPE
outer layers while its core contracts.
For a few thousand years, the cocoon
of cast-off material simply refl ects light
from the star, and we see a protoplane-
tary nebula. As the collapsing star grows
hotter, it eventually warms the nebula
enough to emit its own light, and a
planetary nebula is born.
The Egg Nebula is easily visible as a
little fuzzy spot even in my 130-mm
scope at 63×. It’s elongated south-
southwest to north-northeast and has a
bright point within. At 117× the nebula
appears 25′′ long and half as wide.
At 234× the brighter parts look like a
little shoe print, with the heel (south)
being smaller and considerably dimmer
than the sole (north). The bright point
noticed at 63× resides in the northern
section.
The Egg Nebula’s common name was
bestowed by Mike Merrill due to its oval
appearance on the photographic prints
of the National Geographic Society–
Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (S&T:
Jan. 1975, p. 21).
Farther east we come to the open
cluster NGC 7063, 2.1° northeast of
Upsilon (υ) Cygni. In my 130-mm
refractor at 23×, it’s a conspicuous little
group of nine stars, most shining atpNGC 7013 is classifi ed as type SA0/a(r), a
ringed lenticular galaxy.uThe Egg Nebula has a complex structure
that includes a thick dust band that obscures
the central star together with shells of dust that
were thrown off during the star’s death throes.
The source of the twin light beams is poorly
understood. This false-color image uses red,
green, and blue to indicate different polariza-
tions of the refl ected light.pThe bright blue stars of NGC 7063 indicate
that it’s a young cluster.10th magnitude and arranged in an X
with one bent leg. At 117× two of these
stars prove to be doubles, and 10 more
suns join this cute little group.
NGC 7063 is a youthful cluster like
the Pleiades (M45) in Taurus, but it’s
about fi ve times as distant and thus
appears much dimmer than its splashy
cousin.
Our last target is the Baby Dumb-
bell (PK 86-8 1), which lies 3.0° east-
northeast of Sigma (σ) Cygni. The tiny
disk of this planetary nebula is visible in
my 130-mm scope at 63×, and at 164×it appears brighter in the center with a
very faint star off its southeastern side.
At 234× it shows a slight east-northeast
to west-southwest elongation and hints
of fainter fuzz along the long sides. The
nebula is bluish in my 10-inch scope
at low power, while at 299× it’s a fairly
bright bar with a slightly pinched-in
waist and faint extensions along its
fl anks. A narrowband fi lter enhances
the bar a bit. This planetary gets its
nickname from its resemblance to the
much larger Dumbbell Nebula (M27) in
Vulpecula.
When Night comes, let her open new
wonders to your sight and see if you can
fi nd a favorite among them.¢ Contributing Editor SUE FRENCH
penned this column for the November
2011 issue.Treasures Northeast of the Veil Nebula
Object Type Mag(v) Size/Sep RA Dec.
Lassell 1 Triple-double star 10.6–13.5 19 ′′, 22′′, 12′′ 21 h 34.8m +32° 05 ′
Abell 78 Planetary nebula 13.4 2.0′ × 1.7′ 21 h 35.5m +31° 42 ′
NGC 7013 Lenticular ring galaxy 11.3 4.4′ × 1.4′ 21 h 03.6m +29° 54 ′
Egg Nebula Protoplanetary nebula 12.2 1.0′ × 0.5′ 21 h 02.3m +36° 42 ′
NGC 7063 Open cluster 7.0 9.0′ 21 h 24.5m +36° 30 ′
Baby Dumbbell Planetary nebula 11.8 32 ′′ × 20 ′′ 21 h 33.1m +39° 38 ′
Angular sizes and separations are from recent catalogs. Visually, an object’s size is often smaller than the
cataloged value and varies according to the aperture and magnifi cation of the viewing instrument. Right
ascension and declination are for equinox 2000.0.NOVEMBER 2019 OBSERVING
Deep-Sky Wonders