Clown or Eskimo?

NGC 2392

The Clown Face Planetary Nebula NGC 2392
Sketch by Serge Vieillard, text by Frank McCabe

The Clown Face Planetary Nebula NGC 2392

Sketch by Serge Vieillard

The brightest planetary nebula in the constellation of Gemini is NGC 2392. You may call it the Clown Face or Eskimo Nebula but whatever designation you use this is an impressive sketch that shows the fine filaments visible across the face. Serge Vieillard used the 24 inch Cassegrain telescope in the French Alps at St. Veran Observatory to make this detailed close up sketch in October of 2008. Our perspective has us looking down the maw of this planetary that was measured to be about 1060 years old just a few years back. The central star is magnitude 10.5 and the nebula is visual magnitude 9.1. This planetary can be found at: R.A. 7hrs. 29min. 10.5 sec., Dec. +20° 54’ 42”

One thought on “Clown or Eskimo?”

  1. Serge & Frank,

    Sorry for the delay on responding to this amazing post! It simply blew me away the level of detail captured is almost “Hubblesque” I have tried to experience such a view with my 14″ and deep sky video camera but it doesn’t even come close. Please share more of your work with us.

    Dale

Leave a Reply