Planetary Nebulae
in the Abell Catalog


In 1966, George Abell produced a catalog of 86 objects that were believed to be planetary nebulae. Four of these were already listed in the NGC/IC catalogs, (Abell 50 is NGC 6742, Abell 75 is NGC 7076, Abell 37 is IC 972, and Abell 81 is IC 1454), and another 7 were later found not to be planetaries. (Abell 9, Abell 11 (reflection nebula), Abell 17 (red plate flaw), Abell 32 (red plate flaw), Abell 64, Abell 76 (ring galaxy PGC 85185), and Abell 85 (supernova remnant CTB 1).

The remaining 75 objects present some excellent challenges for the observer, both visual and imaging as most of the objects are very large and faint. Most times a large aperture is required and for visual observing, an OIII filter.


Abell 1

Abell 2

Abell 3

Abell 4

Abell 5

Abell 6

Abell 7

Abell 8

Abell 9

Abell 10

Abell 11

Abell 12

Abell 13

Abell 14

Abell 15

Abell 16

Abell 17

Abell 18

Abell 19

Abell 20

Abell 21

Abell 22

Abell 23

Abell 24

Abell 25

Abell 26

Abell 27

Abell 28

Abell 29

Abell 30

Abell 31

Abell 32

Abell 33

Abell 34

Abell 35

Abell 36

Abell 37

Abell 38

Abell 39

Abell 40

Abell 41

Abell 42

Abell 43

Abell 44

Abell 45

Abell 46

Abell 47

Abell 48

Abell 49

Abell 50

Abell 51

Abell 52

Abell 53

Abell 54

Abell 55

Abell 56

Abell 57

Abell 58

Abell 59

Abell 60

Abell 61

Abell 62

Abell 63

Abell 64

Abell 65

Abell 66

Abell 67

Abell 68

Abell 69

Abell 70

Abell 71

Abell 72

Abell 73

Abell 74

Abell 75

Abell 76

Abell 77

Abell 78

Abell 79

Abell 80

Abell 81

Abell 82

Abell 83

Abell 84

Abell 85

Abell 86

Abell 87

Abell 88

Abell 89