Abell 72 (Delphinus)
Fig. 1 - A diamond guarded by the dolphin: The planetary nebula Abell 72 in Delphinus, photographed with a 16-inch f/4.5 Dob on an equatorial platform.
| Object name: | Constellation: | Coordinates: | Apparent size: | Visual brightness: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abell 72 (= PK 059+18.1) | Delphinus | 20h50m / +13°33' | 2.2' x 2.0' | 13.8 mag |
The faint planetary nebula Abell 72 (PK 059+18.1) in the constellation of Delphinus. Abell 72 is an expanding glowing shell of ionized gas ejected from an old red giant star. The beautiful object of George O. Abell's Catalog of Planetary Nebula is 5,700 ± 1,150 light-years from Earth and about 2 light-years across. (Sources: The binary fraction of planetary nebula stars, Mon. Not. R. Astron.Soc. 000,000-000 (0000), Oct. 2012; Wikipedia).
Exposure time: 2h 20min (44x approx. 3min), taken on July 24 / 25, 2014 and on July 29 / 30, 2016 at ISO 800. Processing with Deep Sky Stacker and Photoshop. No calibration frames were used.
Canon EOS 450D Baader modified camera, TeleVue Paracorr Type II coma corrector, 16" f/4.5 "Ninja" dobsonian telescope riding on a dual-axis Tom Osypowski equatorial platform, Lacerta MGEN autoguider, Lacerta off axis system.
Field of view comparison: image of the moon with the same setup.
Fig. 2 - Search chart for Abell 72. Copyright 2025 'The Mag-7 Star Atlas Project', www.siaris.net.
Fig. 3 - Star hopping to Abell 72: A nice starting point are either the stars β and η delphini or the fainter stars 15, 16 & 17 delphini. Copyright 2025 "The Mag-7 Star Atlas Project", www.siaris.net. Map is modified.