Planetary Nebula Of The Week - 6

IC 972

= ABELL 37 =

CONSTELLATION OF VIRGO

Planetary Nebula IC 972
Image Taken With OIII Filter By Dr. Bruce Balick At Kitt Peak National Observatory

IC 972 is not one of the planetary nebula's that commands great attention. It appears as a slightly elongated 'fuzzy' in the night sky (but yet pretty well defined), and the central star is not visible in the vast majority of amateur telescopes. What I feel makes this planetary worthwhile is it's location in Virgo, which we all know is galaxy country. During the spring observing season, we can hardly find enough time to scour all the multitude of bright, faint, and very faint galaxies in Virgo, Coma Berenices and Canes Venatici. However, in a little isolated region of Virgo lies this sole IC (Index Catalog) planetary. I have included two finder charts for this planetary, the first showing it's location in the constellation with just the brighter stars, and the second which includes most, if all not of the NGC/IC galaxies which are also located in this area of the sky. You can see that there are a few planetaries scattered around like diamonds in the rough, but certainly the galaxies do dominate, don't they! Well, in the pursuit of galaxies which are in the neighborhood of 10's of millions of light years away, take the opportunity to seek out this dying star which is approximately only 6,000 light years away and come away with a sense of size, distance, and absolute magnitude of just a couple of objects to be found in our Universe.

(And how would you like to have the name of the alpha star of Libra? (Due East of IC 972)

Location Chart 1 From 'MegaStar'

Location Chart 2 From 'MegaStar' (Showing NGC/IC Galaxies)

Basic Data & Characteristics of IC 972
Designations	Name	R.A.(J2000.0)	Dec.(J2000.0)	Con.	Size	Mag. (p)	Surface Brightness	Cent. Star Mg	PNe Type
PNG326.7+42.2 PK326+42 1 IC 972 Abell 37		14h 04m 25.95s	-17d 13m 41s	Vir	54 arc-seconds	14.9	13.5	17.91	2c

Additional Factinos:

Distance: Estimated to be 6,400 light years from our solar system.
Radial Velocity: 27 km/sec, moving away from our solar system.
Expansion Velocity: Approximately 16 km/sec.
Discovered by ? (PN identification attributed to George Abell in 1955)
Uranometria 2000.0 Chart No. 286
NGC/IC description is 'F, vS, R, r ' (Faint, very Small, Round, not resolvable).


DIGITAL SKY SURVEY IMAGE OF IC 972 FROM SKYVIEW Image Scale 8.5' Square (arcminutes)	IC 972 IMAGED FROM KITT PEAK NATIONAL OBSERVATORY

OBSERVATION NOTES

Steve Gottlieb:
IC0972 = PK 326+42 1 = Abell 37
14 04.4 -17 14
17.5": faint but easily picked up at 100x without filter as a moderately large, round disc less than 1' diameter. Nicely enhanced with OIII filter and appears moderately bright, crisp-edged and slightly elongated N-S, 45"x40". Also nice view at 100x with UHC filter. Located 6.7' S of mag 9.4 SAO 158326.

13": at 79x and OIII filter appears fairly faint, fairly small, round, with an even surface brightness and sharp edges. Faint but visible without filter. Easily takes 166x with a UHC filter. No central star seen with or without filter.


IC 972 Image Taken With An H-Alpha Filter (Kitt Peak)	IC 972 As Seen In N2 Light (Nitrogen II)

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