Planetary Nebula NGC6210 in Hercules

(RA 16h 44.5m , Dec. +23°49', 8.8 mag., >14" in diameter)

This is bright star-like planetary nebula with prominent blue color. It can be spotted with binoculars about 4° NE of b Herculi (see finder chart below). While not usually noticed visually even in large telescopes, the nebula has some internal details as well as two extremely faint extensions toward NW and SSE. See Saturn Nebula for a better example of such structure.

The left image above was taken on October 31, 2000 from Harrowsmith, Ontario. At that time NGC6210 was low over Western horizon. Cookbook 245 LDC camera was used on Celestron Ultima 8 SCT with an eyepiece projection to achieve f20. White exposures (13 x 30 sec.) were combined with cyan, magenta and yellow-filtered images (3 x 30 sec. each) using AIP4WIN software and the color image was furter adjusted in Lab color space with Corel PhotoPaint 8.

Then, on June 25, 2001, I have acquired additional white exposures taken with the same telescope at the time when the target was culminating and image was not so blurred. Eleven white frames (each exposed for 60 sec.) were processed with AIP4WIN software and combined with previous color information in Lab color space using Corel PhotoPaint 8. Two faint patches NNW and SE of the bright core represent "polar lobes" of this planetary nebula.

Only less than a quater of the original Cookbook frame is shown. North is to the left.

Map created in Guide 7.0 - 7°45' x 7°45'. North is up.

Number of visitors:

© Jan Wisniewski