IC2149
PK 166+10.1
Planetary Nebula
Auriga
RA 05 56 23.9
DEC 46 06 17
Size: 12”
Mag: 10.6
CS Mag: 11.3
Discovered in 1906 by Williamina Fleming at Harvard College Observatory. As Fleming and her colleagues recorded positions of countless stars on photographic plates, they also searched for new objects as they inspected plates coming from the 8” f/5.5 Bache Refractor. That scope was equipped with an objective prism to help record spectra and Fleming noticed that one star in Auriga had bright spectral lines resembling that of a “gaseous nebula”, a common name back then for what would become known as planetary nebulae. IC2149, as Flemings discovery became to be known, would be just one of forty-three entries Fleming would make into the Index Catalogue.
Easily located a little over a degree N/NW from Beta Aurigae and 40’ from Pi Aurigae, IC2149, will reveal itself in a variety of telescope sizes. In smaller telescopes and/or low power, IC2149 appears as a stellar glow around its 11.3 magnitude central star and can be unimpressive. But with higher power, IC2149 becomes a worthy visit. IC2149 will appear as an elongated glow with a PA of -23° and a bright central star. Many online reports indicate the nebula to have defined edges but after my only observation in 2012, I found just the opposite to be true as I didn’t observe crisp edges. Using Jimi’s 48” on March 25th, 2012, with a magnification of 488x, my notes read - Nice PN. Oblong Shape, very diffuse edges. Reddish color in the outer shells with a knot on SW side. We used a NPB filter this night with above average seeing and transparency. If you don’t have an NPB filter, an OIII filter is will suffice as a filter is definitely an big help here. I noted reddish hues to the outer fringes of diffuse edges to the nebula, something I haven’t seen mentioned in online observations.
So, before it gets too late in the season, give IC2149 a chance, particularly if you have access to dark skies and larger glass. It’s definitely worthy of a look!
And as always,
“Give it a go and let us know!”
IC2149.jpg
Picture credits: Patrick A. Young, Donald W. McCarthy,
Craig Kulesa, Karen A. Knierman, Jacqueline Monkiewicz (Steward Observatory),
Guido Brusa, Douglas Miller, Matthew Kenworthy (Center for Astronomical Adaptive Optics)
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