Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 24

Royal Rewards
to be known, in 1942. It was during his 35-year tenure at
the University of Virginia's Leander McCormick Observatory
that he noticed the planetary on objective-prism plates while
searching for nearby stars.
At 94× in the 10-inch, Vy 1-1 looks like an average field
star with a faint double 1′ to its southwest.
At 150×, I can detect that the more
northern star of the pair is itself a close
double separated by about 7″. Using 200×,
the planetary displays a peculiar softness
compared to other stars of similar brightness.
Scaling up to 520×, I notice a haze
around it with averted vision that's no
more than 10″ across.
more that bear his designation - the second most of any
constellation (after Aquila).
Our next two targets are very challenging and happen
That may not seem
at all impressive,
to lie on either side of Kappa (κ) Cassiopeiae. To find B-V 1
(often labeled BV 5-1 or BV 1), aim your telescope 1.5° west
of the 4.2-magnitude sun.
Knowing what to look for in advance
Fifties Flashbacks
Our next quarry lies just 0.5° west-northwest
of the colorful, 13.4″-wide double star
Eta (η) Cassiopeiae (magnitudes 3.5 and 7.4) and is noticeably
brighter than its cataloged magnitude of 14.1. I know
because, as with Abell 84, I can just detect Abell 2 in my
5.1-inch reflector with a narrowband filter.
At 94× in my 10-inch, I'm able to glimpse it with direct
but I was thrilled to
catch any snippet
considering its
bizarre appearance
in images.
helps, but even at 117× and aided by an
O III filter, all I discern with my 10-inch
scope is a tiny, extended spot. Removing
the filter and increasing to 200× and
260×, I note a faint, slightly elongated,
nonstellar spot with averted vision. What
I'm seeing is only just the bright " kink "
in the roughly 40″-long arc. That may not
seem at all impressive, but I was thrilled to
catch any snippet considering its bizarre
appearance in images.
B-V 1 is the fainter of two planetary nebulae that Germanvision
by keeping Eta Cas out of the field and looking 4.5′
south of an 8.3-magnitude star (HD 4253). At 200× I see
it as a tiny, ghostly 30″ disk with two 15.5-magnitude stars
directly southwest. Adding an O III filter makes the entire
planetary easier to see but doesn't add any specific details.
However, upping the magnification to 260× reveals a
mottled or irregular surface. While this is the last planetary
Abell cataloged that's on our tour, Cassiopeia harbors three
Regal Attire
Object
Hubble 12
Abell 82
Abell 84
Humason 1-1
Vyssotsky 1-1
Abell 2
B-V 1
B-V 2
Simeis 22
IC 1747
HFG 1
HDW 2
IC 289
American astronomer Erika Böhm-Vitense discovered in
the mid-1950s while she was in her early thirties. She found
them while searching for galaxies in the Zone of Avoidance
(the nickname professional astronomers use for the area of
the sky that the Milky Way obscures) on plates taken at the
Lick Observatory. It has since become the most studied of her
discoveries because of its unusual appearance, which is attributed
to it being an old, bipolar planetary viewed edge-on.
For our next target B-V 2 (usually referred to as BV 5-2),
start again at Kappa but this time head 0.8° due east. I had
trouble finding the planetary because it lies in a field of stars
of mostly equal-magnitude stars. At 150× in my 10-inch, I
Alt ID
PN G111.8−02.8
PN G114.0−04.6
PN G112.9−10.2
PN G119.6−06.7
PN G118.0−08.6
PN G122.1−04.9
PN G119.3+00.3
PN G121.6−00.0
PN G128.0−04.1
PN G130.2+01.3
PN G136.3+05.5
PN G138.1+04.1
PN G138.8+02.8
Mag(v)
11.9
12.7
13.0
12.3
12.5
14.1
14.7
15.4
12.1
12.0
-
-
13.2
Size
16″
94″
152″
16″
14″
36″
60″
38″
340″
19″
500″
340″
48″
Dist. (l-y)
7,400
5,800
6,400
19,300
22,400
13,600
14,200
-
1,400
10,000
1,900
2,700
6,100
RA
23h 26.2m
23h 45.8m
23h 47.7m
00h 28.3m
00h 18.7m
00h 45.6m
00h 20.0m
00h 40.4m
01h 30.7m
01h 57.6m
03h 03.8m
03h 11.0m
03h 10.3m
Dec.
+58° 11′
+57° 04′
+51° 24′
+55° 58′
+53° 52′
+57° 58′
+62° 59′
+62° 51′
+58° 22′
+63° 19′
+64° 53′
+62° 48′
+61° 19′
Angular sizes 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.
24 DECEMBER 2022 * SKY & TELESCOPE
B-V 1: KEVIN QUIN; B-V 2 AND IC 1747: GARY IMM; SIMEIS 22: FRANK BRESLAWSKI
Sky & Telescope - December 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sky & Telescope - December 2022
