NGC 3132 (also known as the Eight-Burst Nebula, the Southern Ring Nebula, or Caldwell 74) is a bright and extensively studied planetary nebula in the

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the e ...

Vela. Its distance from

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

is estimated at about 613 pc. or 2,000

light-year A light-year, alternatively spelled light year, is a large unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equivalent to about 9.46 trillion kilometers (), or 5.88 trillion miles ().One trillion here is taken to be 1012 ...

s. The Southern Ring Nebula was selected as one of the five cosmic objects observed by the

James Webb Space Telescope The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a space telescope which conducts infrared astronomy. As the largest optical telescope in space, its high resolution and sensitivity allow it to view objects too old, distant, or faint for the Hubble Spa ...

as part of the release of its first official science images on July 12, 2022.

Planetary nebula nucleus (PNN)

Images of NGC 3132 reveal two stars close together within the nebulosity, one of 10th magnitude, the other 16th, located about 1.7 away from the central star. The central star of the planetary nebula is a

white dwarf A white dwarf is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to the Sun's, while its volume is comparable to the Earth's. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes fro ...

, and is the fainter of the two stars. This hot central star of about 100,000 K has now blown off its outer layers and is making the nebula fluoresce brightly from the emission of its intense

ultraviolet Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nanometer, nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 Hertz, PHz) to 400 nm (750 Hertz, THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than ...

radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or through a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'', such as radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visi ...

. The 16th magnitude star is an

A-type main-sequence star An A-type main-sequence star (A V) or A dwarf star is a main-sequence (hydrogen-burning) star of spectral type A and luminosity class V (five). These stars have spectra defined by strong hydrogen Balmer absorption lines. They measure between 1 ...

of type A2V, and is separated from the white dwarf by at least 1277 au. The A-type star orbits at roughly the same distance as the edge of a dust cloud surrounding the central white dwarf.

References

External links

Hubble Heritage Project
– Image of NGC 3132 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ngc 3132 Planetary nebulae Vela (constellation) 3132 074b 18350302

Planetary nebula nucleus (PNN)

See also

References

External links