Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Ophiuchus (Oph)  ·  Contains:  Box nebula  ·  NGC 6309  ·  PK009+14.1
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NGC 6309, Gary Imm
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NGC 6309

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
NGC 6309, Gary Imm
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NGC 6309

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Description

At a size of less than a minute, this planetary nebula is a tough object to image. It is located about 7000 light years away in the southern constellation of Ophiuchus. It is classified as a quadrupolar planetary nebula but I could not see evidence of multipolar structure in this image, nor could I see the central star, nor much of a resemblance to a "box". What is visible, though, are two distinct curved arms extending out in a similar pattern to galaxy arms. Unlike galaxy arms, these arms are not likely the result of rotational motion, but are static arms resulting from the influence of magnetic fields on the nebula. The presence of two foreground stars immediately next to the nebula makes the view more interesting.

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