Nebula Discovery by Amateur

[Christopher K.]

Dave Jurasevich of the Mount Wilson Observatory has discovered (6 July 2008) what is quite likely a heretofore unnoticed planetary nebula. Mr. Jurasevich focuses mainly on H-alpha deep-sky imaging and noticed the object while imaging the IC1318 region. He used an Astro-Physics 160 EDF f/7.7 refractor with an SBIG STL-11000M CCD and an Astrodon Tru-Balance H-alpha filter. He used Maxim DL for camera control, and processed the FITS in CCD Stack. The total exposure time was four hours.

Mel Helm and Keith Quattrocchi, also of California, spotted the nebula eleven days after Jurasevich took his discovery image. By that time Jurasevich had emailed the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams.

Some are comparing PN G75.5+1.7 to Abell 39, also known for its symmetry.

Electronic Telegram No. 1876 from CBAT:
http://www.mtwilson.edu/discovery.pdf

Dave Jurasevich's website:
http://www.starimager.com/

See also the July Sky & Telescope, pp.34-39.