This visually faint object is the nearest planetary nebula to the Sun and on deep photographs has a diameter of almost half a degree — the same apparent size as the Sun in the sky. The object itself is about 700 light years distant, almost 200 times more distant than the nearest stars. This implies that that the shell is over two light years across. Planetary nebulae are the ejected surface layers of a dying star, and advertise an end point in the evolution of stars with a mass similar to that of the Sun.

This AAT picture taken in red light shows the brighter parts of the nebula, revealing a complex, shell-like structure. The smallest of the radial streaks inside the red shell are about 150 astronomical units across (150 times the Earth-Sun distance) and they give this beautiful object its alternative name, the Sunflower Nebula. These fine features are emphasised here by using an unsharp mask during the copying stage of the original plate. They probably originate from blobs of dust ejected earlier in the star's evolution.