NGC 3242's Extended Nebulosity

[Scott Harrington]

Hi all,

Maybe I'm the last one to the party, but has anyone visually observed the wall of extended nebulosity to the southwest of NGC 3242? It's visible on the Aladin Sky Atlas window (below) when you bring up NGC 3242 in SIMBAD. And I understand it has an O III component. I've yet to attempt it, and could use some encouragement, I guess. I'm interested in quoting some sort of "minimum aperture" sighting for a 2026 S&T article and if I'm not able to see it, would like to then tell the reader what size telescope it would take. Thus, I would happily mention you by name.

Second question. Does anyone know when it was discovered/what catalog designation to give it? I only became aware of it myself sometime last year.

Here are a few images:

Peter Goodhew: (https://www.imagingdeepspace.com/ngc-3242.html)

NOIRLab: (https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noao-ngc3242/)

Joe Cauchi: (https://www.joecauchi.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/NGC-3242-AG12-10min-4min-finish-.jpg)

Thanks,

Scott H.

[Mel Bartels]

Scott, I put it on my list. I have a range of scopes: 6, 10, 16, 30 so will give it a try in all. But, a couple three months away... Mel

[deepsky-visuell]

You are late, yes 😉

It’s a Halo fragment and easy to see. I got this with 20“ and described it in my project http://www.deepsky-visuell.de/Projekte/Halo.htm you should know. 

When I remember right, Oliver Stein observe this with his 14“ from La Palma.

CS, uwe 

Am 27.01.2025 um 02:40 schrieb Mel Bartels <melvin...@gmail.com>:



Scott, I put it on my list. I have a range of scopes: 6, 10, 16, 30 so will give it a try in all. But, a couple three months away... Mel

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[owen...@gmail.com]

I think there is some debate as to whether it is a halo fragment or just a part of the ISM that is being illuminated.

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[deepsky-visuell]

It really looks more like ISM, especially from the Ha Emission. But the bubble is closed and the fragment shows clearly and strong [OIII] reaction.

Am 27.01.2025 um 10:08 schrieb owen...@gmail.com:



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[Scott Harrington]

Thanks for the report(s), Uwe. Now I'm encouraged to take a shot with my 16-inch and an O-III filter. And that's an incredible list of PNe you've seen halos around! I just finished going through it and am looking forward to taking a stab (though probably hopeless) at seeing Abell 15 in my 16-inch AND the outer halo segment around it that's very similar to the one around NGC 3242. I had no idea it existed until now (image).

Scott H.

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[Scott Harrington]

Well, I can now report that while I could not detect the outer halo around Abell 15 with my 16-inch (and a filter), I could see the brightest chunk of the halo around NGC 3242 with...wait for it...my 10-inch f/11 SCT (and a filter)! Using a 21mm Ethos (45' TFoV), it was not a terrible pain to see under dark skies and has led me to challenge O'Meara to see it with less aperture (and maybe even no filter).