NGC7027

I very often observe the small planetary, NGC7027 in Cygnus. Located just a short distance east of the North America neubla, it is easy to find - unless you take it as a star.

Monday night I re-observed the planetary. I had a couple of visitors with me, and they couldn't see that it was a nebula at 63x. Even at 115x they had problems, and I therefore increased the magnification to 167x. Then I noticed something that I hadn't been aware of earlier. This nebula isn't round (like I always believed), but elongated, and obviously bi-polar. I somehow feel a bit embarassed that I didn't notice this before, particularly when considering the number of times I have observed it.

I recommend everyone to have a look at NGC7027, and not be afraid of using high magnification.

Inge S

Indeed, 7027 is bright. Even the slightest optical aid will make it visible, but like several other planetary nebulae, magnification is needed to appreciate them as nebulous objects.
For faint, small planetaries (9th magnitude or fainter) I often use the blinking technique with an O-III filter to identify them. The brighter ones, like NGC7027 reveal themselves by their colour. In a recent post I mentioned NGC6572 in Ophiuchus. This nebula is significantly brighter than 7027, and extremely vividly coloured.
The same night as I observed 7027 I also had a look at NGC7662, the "Blue Snowball". Once again I noticed a feature that I hadn't noticed before. 7662 is appears distinctly annular with sufficient aperture and magnification. I just find it strange that I have overlooked this earlier.

Inge S

Hello:

NGC 7027 is a very dusty planetary nebula. Images taken in the infrared (from about 2 to 20 microns) shows a ring structure, almost exactly the same as M57. It's bright enough in the infrared that we were able to observe it in the day time!

Cheers
Mike Connelley

OK, I found it, but had to use some rather detailed charts with fainter stars than Mag 7. Its small size makes it a little more difficult. When found, at 136X, its elongated nature was noticed and seemed to be fainter on one side than the other. This is in contrast to the photo on the NGC/IC site.