Dragan
July 3rd, 2018, 07:45 PM
NGC 6818 – The Little Gem
Sagittarius
NGC6818
Sanduleak 2-392
PK 25-17.1
RA 19 43 57.8
DEC -14 09 10
Type: Planetary Nebula
Mag: 9.3
Size: 48”
Central Star Mag: 16.9
First observed by Sir William Herschel in 1787, NGC6818 is small planetary nebula 6000 light years distant towards the norther border of the constellation Sagittarius. Also known as the “The Little Gem”, NGC6818 is very reminiscent of M57 in Lyra, albeit smaller.
A note I discovered while researching this object is that the central star is one of a binary pair. Its companion is much fainter and lies approximately 150 AU, or 5 times the Sun-Neptune distance, from the main central star. Needless to say, this is a double we are just not going to split!
Finding NGC6818 isn’t as easy to find as say M57 since this area of Sagittarius is void of any bright stars. Deep sky hounds should be familiar with the rather faint NGC 6822 or Barnards Galaxy. NGC6818 lies a little less than a degree, and depending on your instrument, within the same FOV N-NW of NGC6822.
Observations in instruments as small as binoculars have been made but to have any hope of some detail, scopes of at least 8” need to be utilized. Smaller scopes reveal 6818 to be a stellar glow in a field of view barren of notably bright stars. NGC818 is bright enough that larger instruments and higher power start to reveal structure. This object does take magnification well so don’t be afraid to use power if you have the aperture. Smaller scopes will reveal a blue-green fuzzy star like what Uranus looks like whereas scopes north of 10” will start to show a crisply defined slightly elongated north-south and blue-green glow. Higher power will start to show a darkened central region resembling a smoke ring much like M57. You may notice a fainter outer halo surrounding the inner elongated ring. OIII filters can help emphasize the elongation of the inner portions. Most observers tend to include the noticeable blue-green color in their notes so if color is something you enjoy in the eyepiece, I would definitely add NGC6818 to your observing lists this summer.
So there ya go. A rather dazzling stellar explosion observable in a multitude of instruments fitting for this week’s 4th of July celebration. If you get out this next new moon period, be sure to add this Little Gem to your observing list.
And as always,
“Give it a go and let us know!”
Sagittarius
NGC6818
Sanduleak 2-392
PK 25-17.1
RA 19 43 57.8
DEC -14 09 10
Type: Planetary Nebula
Mag: 9.3
Size: 48”
Central Star Mag: 16.9
First observed by Sir William Herschel in 1787, NGC6818 is small planetary nebula 6000 light years distant towards the norther border of the constellation Sagittarius. Also known as the “The Little Gem”, NGC6818 is very reminiscent of M57 in Lyra, albeit smaller.
A note I discovered while researching this object is that the central star is one of a binary pair. Its companion is much fainter and lies approximately 150 AU, or 5 times the Sun-Neptune distance, from the main central star. Needless to say, this is a double we are just not going to split!
Finding NGC6818 isn’t as easy to find as say M57 since this area of Sagittarius is void of any bright stars. Deep sky hounds should be familiar with the rather faint NGC 6822 or Barnards Galaxy. NGC6818 lies a little less than a degree, and depending on your instrument, within the same FOV N-NW of NGC6822.
Observations in instruments as small as binoculars have been made but to have any hope of some detail, scopes of at least 8” need to be utilized. Smaller scopes reveal 6818 to be a stellar glow in a field of view barren of notably bright stars. NGC818 is bright enough that larger instruments and higher power start to reveal structure. This object does take magnification well so don’t be afraid to use power if you have the aperture. Smaller scopes will reveal a blue-green fuzzy star like what Uranus looks like whereas scopes north of 10” will start to show a crisply defined slightly elongated north-south and blue-green glow. Higher power will start to show a darkened central region resembling a smoke ring much like M57. You may notice a fainter outer halo surrounding the inner elongated ring. OIII filters can help emphasize the elongation of the inner portions. Most observers tend to include the noticeable blue-green color in their notes so if color is something you enjoy in the eyepiece, I would definitely add NGC6818 to your observing lists this summer.
So there ya go. A rather dazzling stellar explosion observable in a multitude of instruments fitting for this week’s 4th of July celebration. If you get out this next new moon period, be sure to add this Little Gem to your observing list.
And as always,
“Give it a go and let us know!”