Kronberger 61, also known as the "soccer ball", is a planetary nebula discovered by an amateur astronomer in January, 2011, with the newer images having been taken by the Gemini Observatory.

[2] The nebula is named for Austrian Matthias Kronberger,[3] who is a member of the amateur group Deep Sky Hunters.

They discovered the nebula while searching near the northern constellation of Cygnus.

[4] It is hoped that the discovery will help resolve a decades-old debate, regarding the role of stellar companions in the formation and structure of planetary nebulae.

[5] The nebula is within a relatively small area, which is currently being monitored by NASA's Kepler planet finding mission and the light of the nebula is primarily due to the emissions from doubly ionized oxygen.