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18" (9/10/07): visible as a mag 8.5-9 "star" at 12.5x in the 80mm finder and easily identified using an OIII blink. At 175x in the 18-inch, appears as a small, very high surface brightness oval with a blue-green color. At 450x, this planetary is elongated 3:2 NW-SE, ~18"x12" and has an unusual bipolar appearance with two lobes. The 10" NW component has a very high surface brightness and contains a quasi-stellar brighter knot on its west edge. A fainter lobe juts out towards the SE and is slightly smaller (~8"). At 565x the SE lobe seems incomplete as if it was partially obscured and two lobes are encased in a thin outer envelope. The view was fascinating at 807x with the sense of peering at a 3-dimensional object - the brighter NW lobe being closer and the partially overlapping SE lobe extending away in space. At this power both lobes were clearly irregular in shape and surface brightness.

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Steve:

Just want to add my vote of confidence to Don's plaudits. Outstanding observation.



(I would like to point out that the observation I posted was made with an XT-8 from my urban backyard. I'll be putting the 22-inch on it next time... )

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Fiske Miles
Nikon 8x42 LX / 12x50 SE Binos
Mini Borg 60ED, TV-101, AT80Ach, XT-8, C11/CI-700, 22-Inch Dob
Way too many Nagler eyepieces
http://www.fiskemiles.blogspot.com/
www.fiskemiles.com

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