Humason 1-2 is a tiny, often overlooked planetary
nebula in Cygnus that was discovered my Milton Humason in 1920. A six inch will show the nebula as a faint star that looks slightly
non-stellar. Larger apertures and high magnifications are required
for a detailed view. Look for two opposing lobes at high magnification.
In Summertime Planetaries Beyond the
NGC (August 1999, Sky & Telescope) Jay McNeil describes
this planetary as "Easily located just 3o
east of the 4th-magnitude Sigma Cygni, Hu 1-2 appears virtually
stellar at powers below 300x. However, it's identity becomes quite
apparent when the field of view is blinked with a filter. Using a
10-inch telescope and magnifications approaching 400x, this object
displays wonderful structure reminiscent of the Dumbbell
Nebula." Kent
Wallace descibed it what he saw in an 8-inch f/10 SCT: "At
62.5X, can see directly as a star, requiring the O-III filter to
identify it as a PN. Good response to the O-III & UHC filters.
No response to the H-B filter. At 100X, no disk can be seen. There
is a faint star just south and a bit east of the PN. At 200X, the PN
is still stellar."
Mark
Voil described it in a 17.5-inch scope: "Quite
bright and can take lots of magnification. A perfect hour glass
shape with well-defined edges. Slightly blue-gray in colour."
The view in a 6" at 50x. North is down, East
is to the right.
This
image is from the Digital Sky Survey. Finder
Chart for six-inch telescope (pdf) |
