Object of the Week - October 11th, 2016; Jones 1, Jn 1, PN G104.2-29.6, PK 104-29.1, ARO 195; Pegasus
R.A. 23 35 53.3 DEC +30 28 06 (2000)
Size: 5.5' Mag: V 15.10

Jones 1 is a low surface brightness planetary nebula, discovered in 1941 by Rebecca Jones of Harvard. It is a large and ghostly nebula, about 2300 light years from Earth, that can be quite challenging for telescopes smaller than about 16". Located just north of a point about halfway between the stars Alpheratz and Scheat, 2 members of the Great Square of Pegasus, Jones 1 is a large 5.5' diameter ring with 2 brighter sections approximately opposite from one another. As you might suspect, the view is greatly enhanced with the use of a nebular filter, and the OIII and the NPB both work well.

Jones1_Ha11x10_O3_7x10_syntgreen_txt.jpg http://www.imagingdeepsky.com/Nebulae/PK104/PK104.htm

I observed this guy recently, on August 31st, from the very nice skies of Grandview campground, altitude 8500', in California's Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest http://tinyurl.com/z2mv4uw, and viewed it through Al Smith's wonderful 24" SpicaEyes telescope, which was made by Tom Osypowski. The eyepiece Al employed provided a view in which Jones 1 almost completely filled the field of view, and the OIII filter enabled about 3/4 of the ring to be visible, it looked like the letter "C", and those 2 brighter areas along the edges really popped nicely. The 16th mag central star was easy enough, winking in and out, along with several other stars within the nebula. It was a really nice view!

While I was doing a little internet research on this object, you know, to make sure I got all the technical details correct, I was surprised to learn that there is a nearby quasar! How cool is that? I could not find any report where any claimed to have observed it, but Simbad tells that is has a V-mag of 19.70, so I would suspect that a successful observer might need perfect skies, a lot of aperture and a lot of experience. Hmmm, I know at least one guy who has all of those... :>)

Jones1_10Gly.jpg

As always, give it a go and let us know