NGC 6781

Object Type: Planetary Nebula
Scope: C-9.25" SCT; Exposure 80 minutes.

NGC 6781 is a planetary nebula about 2,500 light-years away in Aquila, an almost perfect bubble of gas cast off by a dying, Sun-like star. It appears as a soft oval with a slightly darker center and is roughly two light-years across and still expanding. Its faint 16.8-magnitude central star, now a white dwarf, is beyond the reach of most amateur instruments. It is often compared to the Ring Nebula, but is larger and fainter.