The Saturn Nebula is a planetary nebula in the constellation Aquarius. See my description of the Ring Nebula (M57) for an explanation of how a planetary nebula forms.
The nebula received the name "Saturn" a half century following its discovery in 1782 because the two "ansae" (Latin for "handles") along its major axis cause it to resemble the planet Saturn.
While estimates of the distance to this object vary, the best estimate, based on data collected by the Hubble Space Telescope, is 1,400 light years. Its major axis is 100 arc seconds, or about 5% the diameter of a full Moon. Invisible to the naked eye, it appears as a small, greenish ball in moderate sized telescopes.
The "Saturn Nebula" (NGC7009) in Aquarius
Date Taken:October 23, 2006
Location Taken: Conditions of Location:FWHM 2.1
Equipment Used:14.5" Ritchey-Chretien, SBIG ST-10XME CCD camera, Astrodon RGB filters, TCC, PIR
Processing Used:10 x 200 sec luminance, and 10x90 sec RGB, guided, processed in Maxim DL and Photoshop (total exposure 78 minutes)
Distance from Location:1,400 light years
Constellation:Aquarius (the "water carrier")
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