The nebula NGC 2440 was once described as "so complex it defies description," (a statement attributed to the late University of California astronomer Dr. Rudolph Minkowski) and this is the first time that its internal structures, consisting of filaments and oppositely directed blobs and streamers, have been shown in such great detail. The central star of nebula NGC 2440 in our Milky Way galaxy. The superhot star, called "the NGC 2440 nucleus" is the bright white dot in the center of this photograph. In previous photographs made with telescopes on the ground, blurring due to the atmosphere acted to smear together the light from the star with the glow of the surrounding nebula. By clearly separating the starlight from the nebular glow, astronomers have been able to make the most accurate estimate yet for the star temperature: a torrid 200,000 degrees Celsius (or 360,000-degree Fahrenheit) or more. NGC 2440 is a planetary nebula, one of many in our galaxy. Its central star, HD 62166,is possibly the hottest known white dwarf, about 400,000°F(200,000°C). The nebula is situated in the constellation Puppis.
It was discovered by William Herschel on March 4, 1790. He described it as "a beautiful planetary nebula of a considerable degree of brightness, not very well defined. "The nebula is located about 1.23 kiloparsecs (3.79×1019 m) or about 4,000 light years from the Sun.
HD 62166
The central star HD 62166 has an exceptionally high surface temperature of about 200,000 kelvins and a luminosity 1,100 times that of the Sun This dense star, with an estimated 0.6 solar mass and 0.028 solar radius, has an apparent magnitude of 17.5
27 окт 2024
