Last week, CalVet staff member Dana Patchick, of the California Veterans Home in Los Angeles, was featured in the February edition of Astronomy Magazine for a stellar sighting.

Patchick located a bipolar planetary nebula in the constellation Cygnus, and was credited with the discovery.  That find earned him naming rights for what is now Patchick 5 (Pa 5). 

California Veterans Home of Los Angeles employee Dana Patchick holds up the latest issue of Astronomy Magazine following his discovery of a new star.

The new planetary nebula – a ring-shaped cloud of gas and dust formed by an expanding shell of gas around an aging star – is estimated to be roughly 4,500 light years away from Earth.

The Pa 5 was embedded in faint background nebulosity, making the discovery all that more remarkable.

Patchick, a member of the Deep Sky Hunter team, made the discovery in 2005 by scanning the digital sky surveys (DSS).

Take a look at his discovery in space below, and pick up your copy of the magazine or check it out online by visiting http://www.astronomy.com/