Little Ghost Nebula

Little Ghost Nebula is a planetary nebula in the constellation Ophiuchus. It was discovered by William Herschel.[2]

Little Ghost Nebula
Emission nebula
Planetary nebula
Observation data: J2000 epoch
Right ascension 17h 29m 20.443s[1]
Declination−23° 45′ 34.22″[1]
Distance2,000 - 5,000 ly
Apparent magnitude (V)12.9[1]
Apparent dimensions (V)28 arc sec[1]
ConstellationOphiuchus
DesignationsNGC 6369,[1] PK 002+05 1[1]
Map showing the location of NGC 6369

Round and planet-shaped, the nebula is also relatively faint. Planetary nebulae are created at the end of a sun-like star's life as its outer layers expand into space while the star's core shrinks to become a white dwarf. The transformed white dwarf star, seen near the center, radiates strongly at ultraviolet wavelengths and powers the expanding nebula's glow. The nebula's main ring structure is about a light-year across and the glow from ionized oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen atoms are colored blue, green, and red respectively.

The Little Ghost Nebula should not be confused with the Ghost Nebula (Sh2-136) or the Ghost Head Nebula (NGC 2080).

References
  1. "NGC 6369". Missing or empty |url= (help)
  2. Nemiroff, R.; Bonnell, J., eds. (8 November 2002). "NGC 6369: The Little Ghost Nebula". Astronomy Picture of the Day. NASA. Retrieved 2010-07-02.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.