Sharpless 2-188

This huge filamentary complex was discovered at the Simiez observatory in Russia in 1951 and was relisted in a survey by Sharpless in 1959. Jay McNeil provided me with background information on this interesting object. Both Simiez and Sharpless classified this object as an emission object and at one point it was considered both an HII region and a SNR based on its wispy appearance (like a dim version of Pickering's Wedge in the Veil). It wasn't until the 90's that Simeiz 22 first appeared in PNe lists and it is now considered an ancient, crescent-shaped planetary similar to the Medusa Nebula (Abell 21). The best view of this phantom object was at 100x (20 Nagler) using an OIII filter. With averted vision, a large, low surface brightness glow was visible, elongated ~E-W and perhaps 8' in length with a better defined southern edge. Several mag 13-14 stars are superimposed. It wasn't easy to identify this planetary (definitely not your garden-variety type). - Steve Gottlieb