Sharpless 215 has, like other objects in the Sharpless Catalog, been classified as an HII emission nebula. My good friend Dana Patchick recently spotted a hot star apparently located within the nebula, and suggested that it could possibly be a planetary nebula. He suggested that I turn my scopes on it, looking for any OIII emission. Although much fainter than the HII emission, I found a strong OIII signal which is characteristic of planetary nebulae. We now await spectroscopic analysis to be able to confirm that it is a PN. Dana has registered it as a possible planetary nebula in his catalog as Pa 167.
Image captured on my dual rig in Spain.
Scopes: APM TMB LZOS 152 Refractors
Cameras: QSI6120wsg8
Mount: 10Micron GM2000 HPS
H-Alpha filter: 61×900″ bin 1×1
Blue: 9×300″ bin 1×1
Green: 8×300″ bin 1×1
Lum: 18×300″ bin 1×1
OIII 3 nm: 46×1800″ bin 4×4
Red: 18×300″ bin 1×1
Total Integration: 42.7 hours