 The
Eskimo is a classic planetary nebula, particularly for larger
scopes. Discovered by William Herschel in 1787, the Eskimo is
10th magnitude, with a 10.5 magnitude central star. Relatively
small, the nebula subtends a mere 20". It lies some 3700
light years distant.
The Eskimo got its name
from its appearance in ground-based photographs, where the central
"bubble" looks like a face surrounded by a parka.
The central star is HD
59088, a massive O8 star that is a suspected variable.
The Eskimo was the
target of the Hubble Space Telescope after the December 1999 repair
mission. The result was the spectacular image on the right.
The bright bubble in the center is formed as the central star puffs
its outer layers out into space. The wind from the central
star is literally blowing away the dust and gas surrounding the
bubble. The more dense knots resist being blown away and shield the
material behind them, creating the streamers that surround the
nebula.
In smaller scopes (<
10"), or at low magnification, the Eskimo looks like an oval
patch surrounding the central star.
 Detail
reminiscent of NGC 1535 can be seen in larger instruments when the
seeing is good. The large, oval object is actually the
surrounding gas and dust. Use as much magnification as
conditions will permit and you may see the central bubble. It
appears as an elongated, brighter patch surrounding the central
star. If you look carefully you will see that this patch is
surrounded by a dark circle. Look for a slight blue or green
hue in larger instruments, particularly to the central bubble.
The
view in a 6-inch at 50x. North is down and east is to the
left.
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