Planetary Nebulae

Planetary Nebulae

1. Dumbbell Nebula

Object data:
-M27
-one of the most photographed planetary nebulae in the night sky
- in constellation Vulpecula
- Magnitude 7.4 (easy to find)
- about 1,200 light-years from Earth
- discovered on 12th July 1764 by Charles Messier
- first planetary nebula to be discovered
- size: angular diameter is 8.0x5.7 arc-minutes

2. Helix Nebula

Object Data:
- in constellation Aquarius
- Discovered by Karl Ludwig Harding, probably before 1824
- one of the closest planetary nebulae to the Earth
- about 215 parsecs or 700 light-years away
- pop culture refers to it as the "Eye of God" or the "Eye of Sauron"
- size: about 16 arc minutes diameter

3. Ring Nebula

Object Data:
- M57
- in constellation Lyra
- discovered by the French astronomer Antoine Darquier de Pellepoix in January 1779
- 0.7 kpc (2,300 light-years) from Earth
- Magnitude: 8.8
- size: 2.5 (arc minutes) in diameter (central bright ring)

4.  Cat's Eye Nebula

Object Data:
- bull's eye pattern of eleven or more concentric rings (shells)
- Each 'ring' is actually edge of a spherical bubble projected onto the sky
- in constellation Draco
- discovered by William Herschel on February 15, 1786.
- first planetary nebula whose spectrum was investigated by the English amateur astronomer William Huggins, demonstrating that planetary nebulae were gaseous and not stellar in nature.
-  magnitude of 8.1
- about three thousand light-years from Earth
- size: inner nebula subtends an average of 16.1 arcsec, with the outer prominent condensations about 25 arcsec

5. Eskimo Nebula

Object Data:
-  also known as Clownface Nebula or Caldwell 39
- discovered by astronomer William Herschel in 1787
-  more than 2,870 light-years away
- in constellation Gemini
- magnitude is 9
- size: 0.8 arcmins

6. The Glowing Eye Nebula

Object Data:
- in Constellation Aquila
- Distance: 6,500 light-years
- Size: 0.8 light-years
- Observed by Hubble in 1998

 7. NGC 6210

Object Data: 
- odd planetary nebula in the constellation Hercules
- Distance: 6,500 light-years
- Size: Unknown
-contains stars similar to our Sun, in their final stages, giving us insight to the fate of our Sun

8. The Red Spider Nebula

Object Data:
- Constellation: Sagittarius
- Distance: 3,000 light-years
- Size: Unknown
- contains one of the hottest stars in the Universe, and generates 100 billion kilometer high waves

 9. The Retina Nebula

Object Data:
- Constellation: Lupus
- Distance: 3,900 light-years
- Size: Unknown
- symmetrical nebula

10. The Spirograph Nebula

Object Data:
- Constellation: Lepus
- Distance: 2,000 light-years
- Size: 0.3 light-years
- Resembles a shape that could be made on a spirograph -a toy which produces geometric patterns