Abell 7 Planetary Nebula
Abell 7 is a very faint planetary nebula located 1800 light-years away in the constellation of Lepus. It is not easy to image due to its low brightness and required very significant exposure time. It has a generally spherical shape about 8 light-years in diameter. Abell 7 is estimated to be only 20,000 years old, but the central star, a fading white dwarf, is estimated to be some 10 billion years old.
Imaged in H Alpha and Oxygen III on our RiDK 700 at El Sauce, Obstech, Chile
Integration time: 44 hours
Image Processing: Mike Selby