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, 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 while investigating extragalactic nebulae close to the galactic plane.

This nebula is quite faint, appearing almost even in brightness on the POSS2 Blue plate, with only a hint of annularity. Its mag. 18 central star can be glimpsed.

blue.gif

On the POSS2 Red plate an elongated, central "void" is evident.

red.gif

PanSTARRS shows it as an even glow.

panstarrs.png

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.

BV5-3 1.jpg BV5-3 2.jpg

Click here 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
BV3.jpg
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[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/4.3Scan0534.jpg

[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!

Longer than I've been around.

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