[BAA 00417] Gyulbudaghian's Nebula - Observing Opportunity

[Rick]

BAA electronic bulletin No. 00417

Gyulbudaghian's Variable Nebula Fades.  Observations Wanted.

Most deep sky objects do little to excite the observer.  They may look beautiful, but they appear similar year after year.  However, there is a class of deep sky object that does change and they are the variable nebulae. Of the few in the sky the most well known is Hubble's Variable Nebula (NGC 2261) in Monoceros.  The nebula was discovered by William Hershel in 1783 but its variability was only recognised by Hubble in 1916.

One of the least observed variable nebulae is the rather wonderfully named Gyulbudaghian's Nebula, which gets its name from the Armenian astronomer Armen Gyulbudaghian who discovered it in 1976.  It lies in Cepheus at RA 20h 45m 55s and Dec +67deg 57min 45sec (2000.0). At its brightest it appears as a very small fan shaped object and its variability is due to its association with the variable star PV Cephei.

An email was received from Mike Harlow on 2009 June 10 saying that an image obtained on 2009 May 20 showed the nebula extremely faint while his image obtained in 2008 April 8 showed it as a "bright" fan (16cm f/2.5 Schmidt + MX916 CCD, 36 x 30s). The behaviour of this nebula is not well understood, although it is thought to brighten quite rapidly from a fade.  Although June in the UK is not the best time to hunt for faint deep sky targets, observers are asked to monitor the object for signs of recovery and forward images to the Director.  Negative reports, although not as exciting, are as important as positive sightings. Unless you have a very large telescope (50cm+) and very good skies do not expect to see it visually.

If you fail on Gyulbudaghian you can always enjoy the nearby Iris Nebula NGC 7023!

Stewart Moore
Director - BAA Deep Sky Section

Bulletin transmitted on  Thu Jun 11 12:18:22 BST 2009
(c) 2009 British Astronomical Association -- http://www.britastro.org/