History

This nebula was discovered by William Herschel on 14 October 1787 and cataloged as I 192 with the description: «Considerably bright of irregular figure, 3' long, 2.5' broad nebulosity.» ^[464] In 1888 John L. E. Dreyer cataloged it as NGC 7008 in his «New General Catalogue». ^[313]

Between 1911 to 1916 the American astronomer Francis G. Pease took a picture with the 60 inch f/5 reflector on Mount Wilson and recognized the nature of NGC 7008 as a planetary nebula. He described the picture as follows: «This planetary nebula is elliptical in shape, 95"x75", p=5°, containing much detail. The strongest bits of nebulosity are two condensations just E of the N end of the major axis. On the south following side the elliptical form seems eaten away, but traces of nebulosity may be seen connecting with a star which lies p=156°. A number of stars a magnitude or two fainter than the nucleus appear in the nebula. Except for one, they are surrounded by a dark ring which un turn opens directly on a dark region. As the nucleus itself presents this appearance, it is suggested that these stars lie within the nebula. One of the stars, p=240°, 23", appears elongated; it may be a double star or a very bright bit of nebulosity. One star at p=65°, 29", with respect to the nucleus, is but partly surrounded by the dark ring. Huggins found the spectrum to be gaseous.» ^[601]