Abell 79

Abell 79 is a faint and rather unusual planetary nebula in the constellation Lacerta. It has a delicate, roughly ring-shaped shell of glowing gas surrounding the hot remnant of the star that created it. Like many objects in George Abell’s catalogue of planetary nebulae, Abell 79 has a very low surface brightness, making it a challenging target for visual observation and astrophotography. Its subtle structure is best revealed through long exposures using narrowband filters, particularly Hα and OIII.

Main nebula was done with Ha, OIII & SII and the stars were done using RGB. It’s a small object so image shown here is heavily cropped.

Location: West Sussex, UK

Bortle: 4

Total integration: 11.75 hours in Ha, OIII, SII

Stars: RGB

Telescope: Edge HD 8

Camera: ASI2600MM