1.3 kiloparsecs away from Earth in the constellation of Camelopardalis is a perfectly spherical nebula that resembles a giant slice of lemon. This leads us to believe that somewhere in space is a cocktail nebula in need of garnish.
First discovered by American astronomer Robert Grant Aitken in 1900 while using Lick Observatory’s 12” Clark Refractor, the Lemon Slice Nebula is one of the simplest nebulae known.
It is also a relatively young nebula, possessing a core diameter of only about 0.4 light-years.
When astronomer Jim Kaler observed a false-colour image of the nebula taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, he gave it this memorable name to reflect its lemon-like appearance.
