Object of the Week January 9, 2022 - A heroic little bubble

[Clear Skies]

Positioned conveniently in the evening sky this time of year, is the small planetary nebula Böhm-Vitense 5-3 (PK 131-05.1, PN G131.4-05.4) in the constellation of Perseus (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseus_(constellation)), the mythological hero.

The position is 01:53:03 +56°24'00" - that's just east of the border with Cassiopeia and about 5 degrees of arc due southeast of the mag. 2.7 star "Ruchbah" (Delta Cassiopeia) that, from east to west, is the second star in the the queen's W. Its also 6 degrees of arc north-northeast of mag. 4.1 Phi Persei.

Our object of the month was one of three planetaries discovered in the year 1956 by Erika Böhm-Vitense (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erika_Böhm-Vitense) while investigating extragalactic nebulae close to the galactic plane (https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/126966/pdf).

This nebula is quite faint, appearing almost even in brightness on the POSS2 Blue plate (https://archive.stsci.edu/cgi-bin/dss_search?v=poss2ukstu_blue&r=01+53+03.43&d=%2B56+24+17.1&e=J2000&h=15.0&w=15.0&f=gif&c=none&fov=NONE&v3=), with only a hint of annularity. Its mag. 18 central star can be glimpsed.

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On the POSS2 Red plate (https://archive.stsci.edu/cgi-bin/dss_search?v=poss2ukstu_red&r=01+53+03.43&d=%2B56+24+17.1&e=J2000&h=15.0&w=15.0&f=gif&c=none&fov=NONE&v3=) an elongated, central "void" is evident.

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PanSTARRS (http://aladin.unistra.fr/AladinLite/?target=01%2053%202.982%2B56%2024%2019.30&fov=0.25&survey=P%2FPanSTARRS%2FDR1%2Fcolor-z-zg-g) shows it as an even glow.

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A few months ago I observed this planetary from the French Alps in my 14" SCT. Unfiltered, I could only pick it up with averted vision:


17mm Nagler T4: Visible with AV, a round, faint glow, even in brightness, no detail visible.

Is in the SW tip of a triangle with a mag. 11 star to the ESE and a mag. 12 star to the NNO that form the base of the triangle.



17mm Nagler T4, Lumicon UHC: Using this filter the nebula appears subtly brighter, a round, remains even in brightness.



17mm Nagler T4, Lumicon OIII: Using this filter the nebula remains a round glow of equal brightness but is visible without AV. The filter has a better effect than the UHC filter has.

Due to its faintness, I decided not to up the magnification. Larger scopes may be able to glimpse its subtle ring shape, perhaps even the central star.

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Click here (https://clearskies.eu/csog/downloads/dsfootw2022#2) to download the observing guide from my website.

Well, you know what to do! Get out there, find this little bubble and let us know!

[Uwe Glahn]

Nice object off the beaten path Victor.
I visited this guy 15 years ago from my new mountain observing side with good transparency and darkness.

With my former 16-inch I wrote:
without filter, nothing visible in the searching eyepiece (51x) but a hint of a glow with mid sized EP's; good reaction on [OIII] filter, steadily visible as a uniform illuminated round disk at 360x

sketch: 16", 360x, [OIII], NELM 6m5+, Seeing III
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home (http://www.deepsky-visuell.de/Zeichnungen/BV3.htm)

[Raul Leon]

Hi, here's my observation from 10/27/2016: Bohm-Vitense 5-3 planetary nebula in Perseus ; magnitude:15 ; size:24" ; small, very faint, seen with averted vision and helps with a Lumicon UHC filter, roundish, evenly illuminated , I used a 6mm Ethos at 304x with my 14.5 Starstructure f/4.34589

[Steve Gottlieb]

Here are 5 observations from 1985 to 2020 -- a 35 year time span!

13.1" (12/7/85): at 166x with Daystar 300, very faint, small, round, definite with averted. A brighter mag 10 star 40" E forms the east vertex of three mag 10 stars about 10' separation. Note: four months earlier Jack Marling made the first known visual observation.

17.5" (11/1/86): at 220x without filter; very faint, fairly small. Estimate V = 14.2-14.5 and appears slightly fainter than similar Abell 2. Easier with Daystar 300 filter but not a dramatic contrast gain. A mag 10.5 star is 50" E of center.

17.5" (1/16/02): best view at 140x and OIII filter. BV 5-3 appeared faint, small, round, 0.4' diameter, fairly crisp-edged. It was not difficult to pick up and view, but no obvious structure was evident. Situated just 50" W of a mag 10.8 star. Also a mag 12.5 star is a similar distance NE. Viewed unfiltered at 220x as a round, low surface brightness glow. Estimate V = 14.5-15.

18" (11/13/07): at 195x and OIII filter appeared faint, small, round, ~25" diameter. Located 40" W of a mag 10.5 star and a mag 13 star is the distance NNE. Finally a mag 12 star is less than 2' due north. Generally the planetary appeared round, but at times I suspected a very slight E-W elongation. Visible unfiltered at 225x and there was only a modest contrast gain using an OIII filter.

24" (12/8/20): at 200x and NPB filter; fairly faint, crisp 25" disc. It was visible unfiltered once it was observed with a filter. 260x and filter also provided a nice view and it was easier unfiltered at this power. In general, BV 5-3 displayed a good filter response, but not excellent.

[akarsh]

Here are 5 observations from 1985 to 2020 -- a 35 year time span!

:shocked: Longer than I've been around.

A naïve question -- what makes this planetary interesting enough for a 35-year follow-up?