Object of the Week, July 30th, 2023 – PN K 3-27 = PK 061+08 1 = PN G061.0+08.0 - LYRA
R.A.: 19h14m30.0s Dec.: +28°40'45"
Size: 16" Size:, Magnitude: 14.30
Kohoutek 3-27 is a planetary nebula in Lyra and is well-placed at this time of the year. It is definitely a mostly overlooked object as it is dim and small, but using an NPB filter made the hunt for it fairly straightforward. There is a nice mag 8 star about 2.5 arc-minutes almost directly west and a mag 9.7 star about 3 arc-minutes almost directly east, and a mag 11.8 star due north. The nebula is a faint round glow with a fairly crisp edge, perhaps 15 or 20 arc-seconds in diameter.
Here is a Skytools view of the area…
ST3 - K 3-27.jpg
The stars east and west are actually double stars, with MRZ 1 in the east having a tight 1.8” separation and the star on the west actually being component C of a triple star, but simultaneously being the brightest star of the group… with components A and B being almost 2 arc-minutes away!
In any case, K 3-27 is much easier to find if you use a filter. There are not a lot of pictures of this guy on the internet, but I did like this one…
k 3-27 rotated.jpg
… which came from a fellow named lowenthalm at astrobin. I rotated it to get north at the top.
As always, give it a go and let us know.
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