Sky & Telescope - November 2019 - 56

NOVEMBER 2019 OBSERVING
Deep-Sky Wonders

p NGC 7013 is classified as type SA0/a(r), a

p The bright blue stars of NGC 7063 indicate

ringed lenticular galaxy.

that it's a young cluster.

outer layers while its core contracts.
For a few thousand years, the cocoon
of cast-off material simply reﬂects light
from the star, and we see a protoplanetary nebula. As the collapsing star grows
hotter, it eventually warms the nebula
enough to emit its own light, and a
planetary nebula is born.
The Egg Nebula is easily visible as a
little fuzzy spot even in my 130-mm
scope at 63×. It's elongated southsouthwest to north-northeast and has a
bright point within. At 117× the nebula
appears 25″ long and half as wide.
At 234× the brighter parts look like a
little shoe print, with the heel (south)
being smaller and considerably dimmer
than the sole (north). The bright point
noticed at 63× resides in the northern
section.
The Egg Nebula's common name was
bestowed by Mike Merrill due to its oval
appearance on the photographic prints
of the National Geographic Society-
Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (S&T:
Jan. 1975, p. 21).
Farther east we come to the open
cluster NGC 7063, 2.1° northeast of
Upsilon (υ) Cygni. In my 130-mm
refractor at 23×, it's a conspicuous little
group of nine stars, most shining at
56

N OV E M B E R 2 019 * SK Y & TELESCOPE

10th magnitude and arranged in an X
with one bent leg. At 117× two of these
stars prove to be doubles, and 10 more
suns join this cute little group.
NGC 7063 is a youthful cluster like
the Pleiades (M45) in Taurus, but it's
about ﬁve times as distant and thus
appears much dimmer than its splashy
cousin.
Our last target is the Baby Dumbbell (PK 86-8 1), which lies 3.0° eastnortheast of Sigma (σ) Cygni. The tiny
disk of this planetary nebula is visible in
my 130-mm scope at 63×, and at 164×

it appears brighter in the center with a
very faint star off its southeastern side.
At 234× it shows a slight east-northeast
to west-southwest elongation and hints
of fainter fuzz along the long sides. The
nebula is bluish in my 10-inch scope
at low power, while at 299× it's a fairly
bright bar with a slightly pinched-in
waist and faint extensions along its
ﬂanks. A narrowband ﬁlter enhances
the bar a bit. This planetary gets its
nickname from its resemblance to the
much larger Dumbbell Nebula (M27) in
Vulpecula.
When Night comes, let her open new
wonders to your sight and see if you can
ﬁnd a favorite among them.
¢ Contributing Editor SUE FRENCH
penned this column for the November
2011 issue.

Treasures Northeast of the Veil Nebula
Object
Lassell 1

Type
Triple-double star

Mag(v)

Size/Sep

10.6-13.5 19″, 22″, 12″

Dec.

21h

34.8m
35.5m

+31° 42′
+29° 54′

+32° 05′

Planetary nebula

13.4

2.0′ × 1.7′

21h

NGC 7013

Lenticular ring galaxy

11.3

4.4′ × 1.4′

21h 03.6m

Egg Nebula

Protoplanetary nebula

12.2

1.0′ × 0.5′

21h 02.3m +36° 42′

NGC 7063

Open cluster

7.0

9.0′

21h 24.5m

+36° 30′

Planetary nebula

11.8

32″ × 20″

21h 33.1m

+39° 38′

Abell 78

Baby Dumbbell

Angular sizes and separations are from recent catalogs. Visually, an object's size is often smaller than the
cataloged value and varies according to the aperture and magnification of the viewing instrument. Right
ascension and declination are for equinox 2000.0.

NGC 7013 & NGC 70 63: POSS-II / STSCI / CA LTECH / PA LO M A R
OBSERVATORY; EGG NEBUL A: N ASA / HUBBLE HERITAG E TE A M /
BILL SPA RKS / R AG H V ENDR A SA H AI

u The Egg Nebula has a complex structure
that includes a thick dust band that obscures
the central star together with shells of dust that
were thrown off during the star's death throes.
The source of the twin light beams is poorly
understood. This false-color image uses red,
green, and blue to indicate different polarizations of the reflected light.

Sky & Telescope - November 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sky & Telescope - November 2019