Object of the Week - June 3, 2018 - Abell 65, a Planetary Nebula in Sagittarius
Object of the Week - June 3, 2018 - Abell 65/PN A66 65 /Sh2-52/ ESO 526-3/ PN ARO 36/ PK 017-21 1/ MCG-04-46-001 - Sagittarius

R.A.: 19h46m34.2s Dec.: -23°08'13" (2000)
Apparent size of 2.4 arcmin
Magnitude: 15.20

Abell 65 is a fairly dim planetary nebula, about 4900 light-years distant in Sagittarius. Spectral studies indicate that it has binary central stars that orbit each other in about a day. SkyTools shows that it appears to be concentric with a galaxy, PGC 63654/ MCG-4-46-1. Simbad, however, says that they are the same object. Can I assume that in the past there has been some confusion as to just what type of object this is?

Abell_65.jpg[INDENT]

I last observed Abell 65 from California’s Golden State Star Party (GSSP) in early summer, 2011, through my Obsession25” f/5 on a really nice night. It was seen immediately, without filtration, as a dim 2:1 oval with a SE-NW orientation, and it looked a lot like a dim featureless galaxy. Adding my trusty NPB filter made it much better, and the SE portion seemed to be a little brighter, to my eye. There is a mag 13 star at each end of the nebula, providing a very nice visual. I tried a variety of eyepieces and at higher powers I’m pretty sure I glimpsed the central star with averted vision. At low power you can see that it sits among several 9-11 mag stars, in a very pretty field.

As always, give it a go and let us know.