Hubble's Planetary Nebula Gallery


IC 3568


IC 3568 lies in the constellation Camelopardus, at a distance of about 9,000 light-years, and has a diameter of about 0.4 light-years (or about 800 times the diameter of our Solar System). It is an example of a round planetary nebula. Note the bright inner shell and the fainter, smooth, circular outer envelope. IC 3568

Credits: Howard Bond (Space Telescope Science Institute), Robin Ciardullo (Pennsylvania State University), and NASA.


NGC 6826


NGC 6826's eye-like appearance is marred by two sets of blood-red "fliers" that lie horizontally across the image. The surrounding faint green "white" of the eye is believed to be gas that made up almost half of the star's mass for most of its life. The hot remnant star (in the center of the green oval) drives a fast wind into older material, forming a hot interior bubble which pushes the older gas ahead of it to form a bright rim. (The star is one of the brightest stars in any planetary). NGC 6826 is 2,200 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus. The Hubble telescope observation was taken Jan. 27, 1996 with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2. NGC 6826

Credits: Bruce Balick (University of Washington), Jason Alexander (University of Washington), Arsen Hajian (U.S. Naval Observatory), Yervant Terzian (Cornell University), Mario Perinotto (University of Florence, Italy), Patrizio Patriarchi (Arcetri Observatory, Italy), and NASA.


NGC 3918


NGC 3918 is in the constellation Centaurus and is about 3,000 light-years from us. Its diameter is about 0.3 light-years. It shows a roughly spherical outer envelope but an elongated inner balloon inflated by a fast wind from the hot central star, which is starting to break out of the spherical envelope at the top and bottom of the image. NGC 3918

Credits: Howard Bond (Space Telescope Science Institute), Robin Ciardullo (Pennsylvania State University), and NASA.


Hubble 5


Hubble 5 is a striking example of a "butterfly" or bipolar (two-lobed) nebula. The heat generated by fast winds causes each of the lobes to expand, much like a pair of balloons with internal heaters. This observation was taken Sept. 9, 1997 by the Hubble telescope's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2. Hubble 5 is 2,200 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. Hubble 5

Credits: Bruce Balick (University of Washington), Vincent Icke (Leiden University, The Netherlands) Garrelt Mellema (Stockholm University), and NASA.


NGC 7009


Like NGC 6826, NGC 7009 has a bright central star at the center of a dark cavity bounded by a football-shaped rim of dense, blue and red gas. The cavity and its rim are trapped inside smoothly-distributed greenish material in the shape of a barrel and comprised of the star's former outer layers. At larger distances, and lying along the long axis of the nebula, a pair of red "ansae", or "handles" appears. Each ansa is joined to the tips of the cavity by a long greenish jet of material. The handles are clouds of low-density gas. NGC 7009 is 1,400 light-years away in the constellation Aquarius. The Hubble telescope observation was taken April 28, 1996 by the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2. NGC 7009

Credits: Bruce Balick (University of Washington), Jason Alexander (University of Washington), Arsen Hajian (U.S. Naval Observatory), Yervant Terzian (Cornell University), Mario Perinotto (University of Florence, Italy), Patrizio Patriarchi (Arcetri Observatory, Italy), and NASA.


NGC 5307


NGC 5307 also lies in Centaurus but is about 10,000 light-years away and has a diameter of approximately 0.6 light-years. It is an example of a planetary nebula with a pinwheel or spiral structure; each blob of gas ejected from the central star has a counterpart on the opposite side of the star. NGC 5307


ARVAL's Note:
The diagram indicates a
wobbling jet, to try to
explain the observed
spiral structure.

Credits: Howard Bond (Space Telescope Science Institute), Robin Ciardullo (Pennsylvania State University), and NASA.



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For higher resolution pictures, link to Hubble Witnesses The Final Blaze of Glory of Sun-Like Stars
(at the Web site of the STScI)




ARVAL's Note:

With a small telescope, from a dark observation site, you can observe the following Planetary Nebulas from this article:

IC 3568 in Camelopardus:
Size: 0.1'
Magnitude: 12.0
Planetary nebula.
R.A.: 12h 33m, Dec: 82° 33' N (Epoch 2000)

Blinking planetary in Cygnus:
Size: 2.3'
Magnitude: 10.0
NGC 6826
Planetary nebula disk with central star.
R.A.: 19h 45m, Dec: 50° 31' N (Epoch 2000)

Blue planetary in Centaurus:
Size: 0.2'
Magnitude: 8.0
NGC 3918
Planetary nebula disk.
R.A.: 11h 50m, Dec: 57° 11' S (Epoch 2000)

Saturn Nebula in Aquarius:
Size: 1.7'
Magnitude: 8.0
NGC 7009
Planetary nebula, irregular.
R.A.: 21h 4m, Dec: 11° 22' S (Epoch 2000)


Data from the ARVAL Catalog of Bright Planetary Nebulas.



Updated: December 23 '97

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