Lemon Slice Nebula
| Emission nebula | |
|---|---|
| Planetary nebula | |
 Image of IC 3568 based on HST data | |
| Observation data: J2000 epoch | |
| Right ascension | 12h 33m 06s |
| Declination | +82° 34′ 00″ |
| Distance | Roughly 4.5⋅103 ly |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 12.3 |
| Constellation | Camelopardalis |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Radius | Core: 0.2 ly |
| Designations | IC 3568, Perek-Kohoutek 123+34.1 (PK 123+34.1),[1] HD 109540 (central star)[2] |
IC 3568 is a planetary nebula that is 1.3 kiloparsecs (4500 ly) away from Earth in the constellation of Camelopardalis (just 7.5 degrees from Polaris). It is a relatively young nebula and has a core diameter of only about 0.4 light years. It was dubbed the Lemon Slice Nebula by Jim Kaler, due to its appearance in one false-colour image from the Hubble Space Telescope.[3][4] The Lemon Slice Nebula is one of the most simple nebulae known, with an almost perfectly spherical morphology. The core of the nebula does not have a distinctly visible structure in formation and is mostly composed of ionized helium.[5] A faint halo of interstellar dust surrounds the nebula.
The central star of the planetary nebula is a magnitude 12.8 O-type star with a spectral type of O(H)3. It is estimated to have a mass less than the Sun, a temperature of over 50,000 K, and a bolometric luminosity of about 2,400 L☉.[6]
IC 3568 was discovered on August 31, 1900 by the American astronomer Robert Grant Aitken while using Lick Observatory's 12" Clark refractor to observe comet Borrelly-Brooks. He noticed that the "star" BD+83°357 in Camelopardalis was actually a small nebula. He used the observatory's 36" refractor the next night to confirm that this was a round nebula.[7] IC 3568 was mistakenly classified as a compact galaxy in the Uppsala General Catalogue, as UGC 7731.[8]
See also
[edit]- NGC 40 (the Bow-Tie Nebula in Cepheus)
References
[edit]- ^ Cragin, Murray; Lucyk, James; Rappaport, Barry (1993). The Deep-sky Field Guide to Uranometria 2000.0. Willmann-Bell. ISBN 978-0-943396-38-5. Retrieved 2025-04-13.
- ^ Hirshfeld, Alan; Sinnott, Roger W. (1982). Sky Catalogue 2000.0. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 2025-04-13.
- ^ IC 3568
- ^ Portal to the Universe.org
- ^ "starrycritters.com". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
- ^ González-Santamaría, I.; Manteiga, M.; Manchado, A.; Ulla, A.; Dafonte, C.; López Varela, P. (2021). "Planetary nebulae in Gaia EDR3: Central star identification, properties, and binarity". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 656: A51. arXiv:2109.12114. Bibcode:2021A&A...656A..51G. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202141916. S2CID 237940344.
- ^ Aitken, R. G. (1900). "A new planetary nebula". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 12 (75): 203. Bibcode:1900PASP...12..203A. doi:10.1088/121390A.
- ^ Wolfgang Steinicke: Lick Observatory with 36" and 12" Refractor telescopes, used by Robert Grant Aitken during the discovery of IC 3568
External links
[edit]
Media related to IC 3568 at Wikimedia Commons
