This object is a planetary nebula located 3,000 light-years away in the constellation of Aquila at a declination of +2 degrees. The PN is 3 arc-minutes in length and has an actual size of 2.5 light years.
This PN has an unusual, complex and non-symmetric shape. This type of geometry is typically a multi-polar structure due to a binary progenitor (central) star, with several pairs of bipolar lobes at different orientations from expelled gas at different times. Numerous locations along the PN perimeter appear to have lobe break-though due to the expelled gasses. My collection of multipolar PNe is seen
here.
Recent studies have identified the bright star just left of the PN center to be the binary progenitor. Previously, the very faint star just above and right of the bright one was thought to be a progenitor candidate, but that is no longer the case.
This is a bi-color image using hydrogen and oxygen, with hydrogen being the overall dominant gas as shown by the reddish color. This is a typical PN where HII dominates along the rim and OIII dominates in the interior. RGB subs were used to provide the star colors.
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