NGC 5189
| NGC 5189 | |
|---|---|
| 300px
NGC 5189 image taken with the Hubble Space Telescope on July 6, 2012.
|
|
| Observation data (Epoch J2000.0) |
|
| Right ascension | 13h 33m 32.97s |
| Declination | -65° 58′ 26.7″ |
| Distance | 3000 ly |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 8.2, 8.5p |
| Apparent dimensions (V) | 90 × 62 arcsec |
| Constellation | Musca |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Radius | ~1 ly |
| Absolute magnitude (V) | - |
| Notable features | A peculiar PN with a binary in the center |
| Other designations | Spiral Planetary Nebula, Gum 47, IC 4274, He2-94, Sa2-95, PK 307-3.1 |
NGC 5189 (Gum 47, IC 4274, nicknamed Spiral Planetary Nebula) is a planetary nebula in the constellation Musca. It was discovered by James Dunlop in 1 July 1826, who catalogued it as Δ252.[1] For many years, well into the 1960s, it was thought to be a bright emission nebula. It was Karl Gordon Henize in 1967 who first described NGC 5189 as quasi-planetary based on its spectral emissions.
Seen through the telescope it seems to have an S shape, reminiscent of a barred spiral galaxy. The S shape, together with point-symmetric knots in the nebula, have for a long time hinted to astronomers that a binary central star is present.[2] Observations with the Southern African Large Telescope have finally found a white dwarf companion in a 4.04 day orbit around the rare low-mass Wolf-Rayet type central star of NGC 5189.[3] NGC 5189 is estimated to be 546 parsec.[4] or 1,780 light years away from Earth. Other measurements have yielded results up to 900 parsecs (~3000 light-years)[5]
References
- ↑ Classic Deep-Sky and Double Stars : NGC 5189 (Mus) [1] Southern Astronomical Delights
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons
