This planetary nebula in Cancer was discovered by George Abell on photographic plates in 1955. It is very dim. Folks with very large amateur telescopes and special filters have trouble seeing it with their eyes. The nebula is relatively nearby, just 1863 light years, give or take 80 or so. Citation. It appears to be interacting with interstellar matter (just my guess), which gives the left side a bow-front or bow-shock look, while the right side trails off; perhaps the nebula is relatively old or weak. Other images show a significant OIII glow near the center. The brightest star in this image, at lower right, is 8.51. A few stars are between 9 and 10, and all others are magnitude 10 or dimmer. The dimmest stars in the image are less than magnitude 17. Here are links to my favorite images of Abell 31: here and here. This image is 14x10' with the Atik 16.Here is a view with color. In this edition, the nebula has been colored red, the natural color of the Ha emission recorded above. The stars have been left white.
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