This object is a planetary nebula located about 3300 light years away in the constellation of Draco at a declination of +67 degrees. The outer section of the nebula spans 5 arc-minutes in our apparent view, equivalent to 5 light years, while the bright inner section spans 30 arc-seconds, equivalent to 0.5 light years.
This object is a beautiful and often viewed planetary nebula. The inner "eye" gives the object its name (and which is the only part of this object usually able to be viewed visually). The beautiful wispy hexagon-shaped gas exterior is primarily comprised of oxygen. This dying star has ejected rings of gas in several phases - the oldest from about 60,000 years ago in the outermost edge, while the very bright inner portions are from ejections around 1,000 years ago.
Like the Orion Nebula, this bright and popular object is surprisingly hard to image well. I imaged it a
few years ago but never captured much detail in the bright inner region. The inner portion is tremendously bright while the outer regions are incredibly dim. Each section can be imaged separately with different exposure times, but the processing of the transition region is the tough part. I gave it another try here but I am still not completely satisfied with it.
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