Planetary Nebula NGC 6742

NGC 6742
NGC 6742: Planetary nebula in Draco; 500 mm Cassegrain 3625 mm f/7.2; SBIG STL11K; 70+3*20 min LRGB; Bernese Highlands; © 2015 Radek Chromik [32]

History

Nebula NGC 6742 was discovered by William Herschel on 8th July 1788 and also observed by Heinrich d'Arrest on 24 September 1862. John L. E. Dreyer described the nebula as very faint and stellar. George Ogden Abell then identified NGC 6742 as his 39th planetary nebula (A55 39) on the «Palomar Observatory Sky Survey» (POSS) photoplates in 1955 and then listed it as No. 50 in his list of 86 on the POSS photoplates in 1966 discovered PNs (A66 50). The PN Abell 50 should not be confused with the galaxy cluster Abell 50 (ACO 50) of the same name in the constellation Cetus. [196, 331, 332]

Physical Properties

The distance is given as 5091 pc (about 16'600 light years) and the visual apparent magnitude as 16.5 mag. The central star is of the spectral type O(H)III-V [145]

«Strasbourg-ESO Catalogue of Galactic Planetary Nebulae» Acker et al., 1992 [141]
Designations PN G078.5+18.7: A 50, PK 78+18.1, A55 39, NGC, 6742, VV' 472
Right Ascension (J2000.0) 18h 59m 21s a
Declination (J2000.0) +48° 28' 14" a
Dimensions 27." (optical)
Radial Velocity -159.0 ± 11.0 km/s
C-Star Designations AG82 338
C-Star Magnitude B: 20.0
Discoverer ABELL 1955

Finder Chart

Planetary nebula NGC 6742 is located in the constellation Draco, near the border of Lyra and Cygnus. In Central Europe it is circumpolar. The best observing time is February to September, when the PN is highest in the night sky.

Finder Chart Planetary Nebula NGC 6742
Planetary Nebula NGC 6742 in constellation Draco. Charts created using SkySafari 6 Pro and STScI Digitized Sky Survey. Limiting magnitudes: Constellation chart ~6.5 mag, DSS2 close-ups ~20 mag. [149, 160]

Objects Within a Radius of 20°

References