NGC 6826 is a wonderful example of a planetary nebula due to the amount of detail it presents. First of all, the name refers to the nature of human vision and not that of the nebula at all! The nebula appears to "blink" because it is dim. Human eyeballs have their least sensitive cells in the center of the fovea. Thus, staring at this object makes it appear to dim (or even disappear) whereas using "averted vision" makes the nebula look brighter. In a telescope this nebula glows a neon green with bright central star.
I personally observed this one and it's a great object!! sort of reminds me of the ghost of jupiter and saturn nebulas... it's bluish appearance oustanding in a telescope. I did not observe the blinking effect, however, not the central star in my 13.1"...but i didn't observe it for any definite period of time, hoping to go back later...unfortunately, i was off by myself in an environment where wild dogs, coyotes, etc...were coming in in packs close to me, so i headed out as fast as i could...lol
really, i'm being humourous here...but wild animals are something to think about when observing alone... i used to do it alot, but now, i prefer to observe with friends.
much safer!!!
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