Planetary Nebulae Database    The Planetary Nebulae Database contains information on planetary nebulae listed in Stellarium. A planetary nebula is formed by an expanding shell of gas from an ageing star. It is worth pointing out that some other astronomical objects are included in the lists for planetary nebulae in Stellarium,  These include the associated types; protoplanetary nebulae                                                                                                  and possible planetary nebulae. However, more tenuous objects such as H II regions, reflection nebulae, supernova remnants and even some stars are also included. Presumably better forms of observation have resulted in what were previously regarded as examples of planetary nebulae being identified as different objects. The astronomical objects included within the list of planetary nebulae in Stellarium are as follows. Type of Astronomical Object             Number of Objects Listed Planetary Nebula          2451 Protoplanetary Nebula              32 Possible Planetary Nebula 531 Reflection Nebula     4 H II Region     12 Stars   36 Emission-line Stars     14 Symbiotic Stars   10 Galaxy         15 Supernova Remnant     3 Young Stellar Object     5 Unknown Object     3 Star Cluster     1 Emission Object     1 Interstellar Matter     1 Dark Nebula     2 Grand Total          3121 So a grand total of 3121 objects are listed in the Planetary Nebulae Database. For full details see the following file: Planetary Nebulae Catalogue. Click on the icon to view the file.          Planetary Nebulae Catalogue (Reduced)    The query tool of MS Access can be used to select only those objects in the database which are planetary nebulae, protoplanetary nebulae or possible planetary nebulae. This produces the reduced planetary nebulae catalogue. The astronomical objects included within the list of planetary nebulae in Stellarium are as follows. Type of Astronomical Object        Northern Skies             Southern Skies         Number of Objects Listed Planetary Nebula                  1819             632     2451 Protoplanetary Nebula                      29                    3         32 Possible Planetary Nebula         373             158                                           531 Total       2221                               793                                         3014 For full details see the following file: Planetary Nebulae Only. Click on the icon to view the file.        Planetary Nebulae with Proper Names The following file shows planetary nebulae with proper names which are listed in Stellarium. The planetary nebulae are ordered by constellation and then in alphabetical order. The file also highlights whether or not a picture is included in Stellarium and, if it is, a description of the picture quality is given. Click on the icon to view the file. Distribution of Planetary Nebulae         Across the Constellations The following lists show the constellations which have the highest concentration of planetary nebulae (of those listed in Stellarium). The figures are taken from the reduced planetary nebulae catalogue.        Northern Skies    Southern Skies   1. Sagittarius          552 1. Centaurus 142   2. Scorpius          371 2. Norma 122   3. Ophiuchus          245 3. Vela 117   4. Aquila          200 4. Carina   82   5. Cygnus                     126 5. Ara   65   6. Scutum          106 6. Circinus   54   7. Serpens (Cauda) 81 7. Crux   51   8. Puppis (Borealis) 64   9. Vulpecula 63 10. Cassiopeia 51 It is worth pointing out that there are 17 constellations which have no planetary nebulae listed in Stellarium of which 8 are classified as southern.              Constellation Maps   The following files show the number of planetary nebulae, listed in Stellarium,  which are in each constellation on maps of the constellations. The figures are taken from the reduced planetary nebulae catalogue.   Click on the relevant icon to view the required file.                               Northern Skies                                           Southern Skies