Four Croatian Astronomers Discover New Planetary Nebula Candidate

The news in Croatian

1. astronom  (m.)
   osoba koja proučava svemirska tijela i pojave na nebu ↩︎
2. amater  (m.)
   osoba koja se nečim bavi kao hobijem, a ne kao profesijom ↩︎
3. planetaran
   koji se odnosi na planete ili ima oblik sličan planetu ↩︎
4. maglica  (f.)
   oblak plina i prašine u svemiru koji često svijetli ili odsjajuje zvjezdanu svjetlost ↩︎
5. zvjezdani
   koji se odnosi na zvijezde ili je sastavljen od zvijezda ↩︎
6. skup  (m.)
   skupina zvijezda ili objekata koji se nalaze blizu jedan drugog na nebu ↩︎

Translation

Text comprehension

Question 1: What is the name given to the newly discovered planetary nebula candidate?

Question 2: In which star cluster was the new nebula found?

Vocabulary

Croatian	English
astronom  (m.)	astronomer
amater  (m.)	amateur
planetaran	planetary
maglica  (f.)	nebula
zvjezdani	stellar
skup  (m.)	cluster

Read the full story

Four Croatian amateur astronomers have discovered what they believe is a previously unrecorded planetary nebula, spotted during astrophotography sessions carried out over several nights this summer.

Matija Cecelja, Matija Pozojević, Stjepan Prugovečki and Robert Žibreg combined their efforts to photograph a region of the constellation Cygnus (the Swan). Their original target was the reflection nebula vdB 134, but a careful review of their images revealed something unexpected nearby.

It was Stjepan Prugovečki who first noticed a faint trace in images taken through an ionised oxygen filter. Further investigation showed the structure surrounding a star catalogued in professional databases as a white dwarf — notably blue in colour and emitting intense ultraviolet radiation. Such stars are commonly found at the centre of planetary nebulae, which prompted the team to investigate further.

Robert Žibreg, who had previously co-discovered the planetary nebula PaZib 1, carried out precise astrometric calculations. He determined the white dwarf lies approximately 720 parsecs — around 2,350 light years — from Earth. The nebula’s envelope measures between 0.44 and 0.46 parsecs in diameter, equivalent to roughly 1.4 to 1.5 light years. According to the team, these dimensions are consistent with a mid-aged classical planetary nebula.

To verify their finding, the team compared their images with those from the professional Northern Sky Narrowband Survey. The position and shape of the object matched precisely. A thorough search of existing catalogues and scientific literature confirmed the white dwarf’s presence at those coordinates, but found no previously registered planetary nebula at that location.

The newly discovered object has been proposed under the name CePozPruZib 1, derived from the surnames of the four discoverers. It has been formally submitted for expert review as a planetary nebula candidate. Once verified, it will be added to official catalogues. Details of the discovery are currently available on the Astrobin portal.