Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Auriga (Aur)  ·  Contains:  PK166-06.1
Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
CRL 618, Gary Imm
CRL 618, Gary Imm

CRL 618

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
CRL 618, Gary Imm
CRL 618, Gary Imm

CRL 618

Equipment

Loading...

Acquisition details

Loading...

Description

This object is a tiny protoplanetary nebula located 12000 light years away in the constellation of Auriga at a declination of +36 degrees.  This magnitude 18 nebula spans 15 arc-seconds in our apparent view, 1/4 of the current size of Venus, which corresponds to an actual span of less than 1 light year.

This object is designated CRL because it was discovered by the United States Air Force’s Cambridge Research Laboratory.  The discovery was made during a rocket-based suborbital infrared survey back in the 1970s.  The nebula is named after Bill Westbrook, who studied the nebula and died at the young age of 26 in 1975.

This object is in transition from a protoplanetary nebula to a planetary nebula.  I assumed that this nebula consisted mainly of reflected light, but I did obtain a significant HII signal so ionization is well underway.  I also captured some OIII signal.  Scientists believe that the nebula is about 100 years old and that ionization started around 1970.

The progenitor star is hidden deep inside the nebula.  The star is ejecting gas and dust at high velocities, resulting in the bipolar shape.  As seen more clearly in the Hubble  mouseover, fingers of gas extend out to the left and to the right.

Comments