Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Sagittarius (Sgr)  ·  Contains:  NGC 6537  ·  PK010+00.1
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NGC 6537, Gary Imm
NGC 6537, Gary Imm

NGC 6537

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NGC 6537, Gary Imm
NGC 6537, Gary Imm

NGC 6537

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Description

This planetary nebula, nicknamed the Red Spider Nebula, is located in the constellation of Sagittarius at a declination of -20 degrees.  It is a magnitude 12 PN which spans 3 arc-minutes in our apparent view.  This is one of the few PN for which we do not know the distance with any degree of confidence.

The nebula has a beautiful bi-polar two-lobed shape, likely due to a binary progenitor star.  I find it fascinating that the gas structures appears rippled.  I have not seen such complexity in a PN before.  Little OIII is present.

The progenitor central white dwarf is shrouded in dust and is believed to be amongst the hottest white dwarfs in existence.

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