NGC 7662

NGC 7662 (also known as the Blue Snowball Nebula, Snowball Nebula, and Caldwell 22) is a planetary nebula located in the constellation Andromeda.

NGC 7662
Emission nebula
Planetary nebula
A Hubble Space Telescope (HST) image of NGC 7662.
Credit: HST/NASA/ESA.[1]
Observation data: J2000 epoch
Right ascension 23h 25m 54s[2]
Declination+42° 32′ 6″[2]
Distance~2000-6000 ly
Apparent magnitude (V)8.6[3]
Apparent dimensions (V)37″
ConstellationAndromeda
Physical characteristics
Radius0.8 ly
DesignationsPK 106-17 1, GCRV 14695, PN ARO 20, Blue Snowball Nebula, Snowball Nebula, Caldwell 22

The distance to this nebula is not known with any real accuracy. According to the Skalnate Pleso Catalogue (1951) the distance of NGC 7662 is about 1,800 light years, the actual diameter about 20,000 AU. In a more recent survey of the brighter planetaries, C.R.O'Dell (1963) derived a distance of 1,740 parsecs or about 5,600 light years, increasing the actual size to 0.8 light year, or nearly 50,000 AU. It has a faint central star that is variable, with a magnitude range of 12 to 16.[4] The central star is a bluish dwarf with a continuous spectrum and a computed temperature of about 75,000K. The nuclei of the planetary nebulae are among the hottest stars known.[5]

NGC 7662 is a popular planetary nebula for casual observers. A small telescope will reveal a star-like object with slight nebulosity. A 6" telescope with a magnification around 100x will reveal a slightly bluish disk, while telescopes with a primary mirror at least 16" in diameter may reveal slight color and brightness variations in the interior.

gollark: Anarchoprimitivism bad.
gollark: Well, right now, nothing, it stopped several hours ago.
gollark: So we can only really say "maybe (but probably not)".
gollark: You're making statements dependent on understanding of those universal laws, which is not complete.
gollark: Also, apparently FTL travel is equivalent to time travel, thus problems.

See also

References
  1. The Hubble European Space Agency Information Centre Hubble picture of NGC 7662 Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "NGC 7662". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2007-04-10.
  3. Dunlop, Storm (2005). Atlas of the Night Sky. Collins. ISBN 978-0-00-717223-8.
  4. "Blue Snowball Nebula (NGC 7662)". Internet Encyclopedia of Science. Retrieved 2008-10-11.
  5. "Planetary nebula NGC 7662 in Andromeda". Kopernic Observatory. Retrieved 2008-10-11.

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