Medusa NebulaFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Medusa Nebula

Medusa nebula, 24 inch telescope on Mt. Lemmon, AZ.

Courtesy of Joseph D. Schulman

Observation data

(Epoch J2000.0)

Right ascension 07h 29m 02.69s[1][2]

Declination +13° 14′ 48.4″[1][2]

Distance 1,500 ly (460 pc)[3]

Apparent magnitude

(V)

15.99[1]

Apparent dimensions

(V)

4 ly [3]

Constellation Gemini

Physical characteristics

Absolute magnitude (V) 7.68

Notable features Very large & very low surface

brightness

Other designations Sharpless 2-274, PK 205+14 1,

Abel 21 [1]

See also: Planetary nebula, Lists of nebulae

Coordinates: 07 h 29 m 02 s , +13° 14′ 15″

The Medusa Nebula is a large planetary nebula in the constellation of Gemini on the Canis Minor border. It also known as Abell 21 and Sharpless 274. It was originally discovered in 1955 by UCLA astronomer George O. Abell, who classified it as an old planetary nebula.[4] The braided serpentine filaments of glowing gas suggests the serpent hair of Medusa found in ancient Greek mythology.

Until the early 1970s, the Medusa was thought to be a supernova remnant. With the computation of expansion velocities and the thermal character of the radio emission, Soviet astronomers in 1971 concluded that it was most likely a planetary nebula.[4]

As the nebula is so big, its surface brightness is very low, with surface magnitudes of between +15.99 and +25 reported. Because of this most websites recommend at least an 8-inch (200 mm) telescope with an [O   III] filter to find this object although probably possible to image with smaller apertures.[citation needed]

References

1. ^ a b c d "MEDUSA -- Planetary Nebula". Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg. http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?protocol=html&Ident=Medusa+Nebula. Retrieved 2010-07-01.

2. ^ a b Cutri, R. M.; Skrutskie, M. F.; Van Dyk, S.; Beichman, C. A. et al. (2003 June). "2MASS All Sky Catalog of point sources". The IRSA 2MASS All-Sky Point Source Catalog, NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive.. Bibcode 2003tmc..book.....C.

3. ^ a b Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA) (12 June 2010). "The Medusa Nebula". Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day. http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap100612.html. Retrieved 2010-07-01.

4. ^ a b Lozinskaya, T. A. (1973, June). "Interferometry of the Medusa Nebula A21 (YM 29)" (PDF). Soviet Astronomy 16: p.945. Bibcode 1973SvA....16..945L.

External links

The Sharpless Catalog: Sharpless 274 APOD picture: The Medusa Nebula Images of the Universe: PK 205+14.1 The Medusa Nebula in Gemini

v t e

Sharpless catalog Sh2-1 Sh2-2 Sh2-3 Sh2-4 Sh2-5 Sh2-6 Sh2-7 Sh2-8 Sh2-9 Sh2-10 Sh2-11 Sh2-12 Sh2-13 Sh2-14 Sh2-15 Sh2-16 Sh2-17 Sh2-18 Sh2-19 Sh2-20 Sh2-21 Sh2-22 Sh2-23 Sh2-24 Sh2-25 Sh2-26 Sh2-27 Sh2-28 Sh2-29 Sh2-30 Sh2-31 Sh2-32 Sh2-33 Sh2-34 Sh2-35 Sh2-36 Sh2-37 Sh2-38 Sh2-39 Sh2-40 Sh2-41 Sh2-42 Sh2-43 Sh2-44

Sh2-45 Sh2-46 Sh2-47 Sh2-48 Sh2-49 Sh2-50 Sh2-51 Sh2-52 Sh2-53 Sh2-54 Sh2-55 Sh2-56 Sh2-57 Sh2-58 Sh2-59 Sh2-60 Sh2-61 Sh2-62 Sh2-63 Sh2-64 Sh2-65 Sh2-66 Sh2-67 Sh2-68 Sh2-69 Sh2-70 Sh2-71 Sh2-72 Sh2-73 Sh2-74 Sh2-75 Sh2-76 Sh2-77 Sh2-78 Sh2-79 Sh2-80 Sh2-81 Sh2-82 Sh2-83 Sh2-84 Sh2-85 Sh2-86 Sh2-87 Sh2-88 Sh2-89 Sh2-90 Sh2-91 Sh2-92 Sh2-93 Sh2-94

Sh2-95 Sh2-96 Sh2-97 Sh2-98 Sh2-99 Sh2-100 Sh2-101 Sh2-102 Sh2-103 Sh2-104 Sh2-105 Sh2-106 Sh2-107 Sh2-108 Sh2-109 Sh2-110 Sh2-111 Sh2-112 Sh2-113 Sh2-114 Sh2-115 Sh2-116 Sh2-117 Sh2-118 Sh2-119 Sh2-120 Sh2-121 Sh2-122 Sh2-123 Sh2-124 Sh2-125 Sh2-126 Sh2-127 Sh2-128 Sh2-129 Sh2-130 Sh2-131 Sh2-132 Sh2-133 Sh2-134 Sh2-135 Sh2-136 Sh2-137 Sh2-138 Sh2-139 Sh2-140 Sh2-141 Sh2-142 Sh2-143 Sh2-144

Sh2-145 Sh2-146 Sh2-147 Sh2-148 Sh2-149 Sh2-150 Sh2-151 Sh2-152 Sh2-153 Sh2-154 Sh2-155 Sh2-156 Sh2-157 Sh2-158 Sh2-159 Sh2-160 Sh2-161 Sh2-162 Sh2-163 Sh2-164 Sh2-165 Sh2-166 Sh2-167 Sh2-168 Sh2-169 Sh2-170 Sh2-171 Sh2-172 Sh2-173 Sh2-174 Sh2-175 Sh2-176 Sh2-177 Sh2-178 Sh2-179 Sh2-180 Sh2-181 Sh2-182 Sh2-183 Sh2-184 Sh2-185 Sh2-186 Sh2-187 Sh2-188 Sh2-189 Sh2-190 Sh2-191 Sh2-192 Sh2-193 Sh2-194

Sh2-195 Sh2-196 Sh2-197 Sh2-198 Sh2-199 Sh2-201 Sh2-202 Sh2-203 Sh2-204 Sh2-205 Sh2-206 Sh2-207 Sh2-208 Sh2-209 Sh2-210 Sh2-211 Sh2-212 Sh2-213 Sh2-214 Sh2-215 Sh2-216 Sh2-217 Sh2-218 Sh2-219 Sh2-220 Sh2-221 Sh2-222 Sh2-223 Sh2-224 Sh2-225 Sh2-226 Sh2-227 Sh2-228 Sh2-229 Sh2-230 Sh2-231 Sh2-232 Sh2-233 Sh2-234 Sh2-235 Sh2-236 Sh2-237 Sh2-238 Sh2-239 Sh2-240 Sh2-241 Sh2-242 Sh2-243 Sh2-244 Sh2-245

Sh2-246 Sh2-247 Sh2-248 Sh2-249 Sh2-250 Sh2-251 Sh2-252 Sh2-253 Sh2-254 Sh2-255 Sh2-256 Sh2-257 Sh2-258 Sh2-259 Sh2-260 Sh2-261 Sh2-262 Sh2-263 Sh2-264 Sh2-265 Sh2-266 Sh2-267 Sh2-268 Sh2-269 Sh2-270 Sh2-271 Sh2-272 Sh2-273 Sh2-274 Sh2-275 Sh2-276 Sh2-277 Sh2-278 Sh2-279 Sh2-280 Sh2-281 Sh2-282 Sh2-283 Sh2-284 Sh2-285 Sh2-286 Sh2-287 Sh2-288 Sh2-289 Sh2-290 Sh2-291 Sh2-292 Sh2-293 Sh2-294 Sh2-295

Sh2-296 Sh2-297 Sh2-298 Sh2-299 Sh2-301 Sh2-302 Sh2-303 Sh2-304 Sh2-305 Sh2-306 Sh2-307 Sh2-308 Sh2-309 Sh2-310 Sh2-311 Sh2-312 Sh2-313

See also: Stewart Sharpless RCW catalog Gum catalog

Nebula

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Categories:

Planetary nebulae Gemini (constellation) Sharpless objects

Source Material: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medusa_Nebula