Kronberger 61

Kronberger 61 also known as the "soccer ball" is a Nebula discovered by an amateur Astronomer in January, 2011, with the newer images having being taken by the Gemini Observatory.[1] The nebula is named for Austrian Mattias Kronberger, who is a member of the amateur group Deep Sky Hunters. They discovered the nebula while searching near the northern constellation of Cygnus.[2] It is hoped that the discovery will help resolve a decades old debate, which is, are stellar companions key to the formation and structure of planetary nebulae?[3] The nebula is within a relatively small area which is currently being monitored by NASA’s Kepler planet finding mission and the light of the nebula is primarily due to the emissions from twice-ionized oxygen.[3]

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