Abell 39 (PK 047+42.1, PN A66 39, PN ARO 180)

Abell 39 (PK 047+42.1, PN A66 39, PN ARO 180) is 4400-6800 light-years (ly) away (sources vary) in the constellation Hercules and has a diameter of about 3 ly. 

This Planetary Nebula (PN) is relatively large and diffuse, magnitude 13 PN and is dominated by an OIII signal.  The faint smudge seen at about 10:30 inside the PN is a 1.7 billion ly-distant galaxy, LEDA 2817010 (Gary Imm, Astrobin).  

The white dwarf central star (subdwarf O-type star) is shown at the center of the PN and is about magnitude 15.7.

I thought this was an interesting target since the nebula is nearly perfectly spherical around the progenitor star.  

Capture Date: 5/30/2024

Equipment

Celestron EdgeHD 800 w/0.7x reducer (fL 1442mm; f/7) with Celestron OAG and ASI174mm mini guide camera

ASIAir Plus, ASI2600MM, ZWO AM5 mount, ZWO 2” 7-position filter wheel

Filters:

Antlia 3nm Narrowband H-alpha 2": 6×300″ (0:30)
Antlia 3nm Narrowband Oxygen III 2": 26×300″ (2:10)
Antlia 3nm Narrowband Sulfur II 2": 40×300″ (0:30)

Total Integration: 3:10

Processed with PixInsight as an HOO image; Adobe Photoshop used to crop and general the JPEG.