Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Musca (Mus)  ·  Contains:  IC 4274  ·  NGC 5189  ·  PK307-03.1
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Spiral Planetary, NGC 5189, Geoff
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Spiral Planetary, NGC 5189

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Spiral Planetary, NGC 5189, Geoff
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Spiral Planetary, NGC 5189

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Description

NGC 5189 (also Gum 47, IC 4274 and nicknamed the Spiral Planetary Nebula) is a planetary nebula in the constellation Musca. It was discovered by the Scottish Australian astronomer James Dunlop in 1 July 1826. For many years, well into the 1960s, it was thought to be a bright emission nebula. It was Karl Gordon Henize in 1967 who first described NGC 5189 as quasi-planetary based on its spectral emissions.

Seen through the telescope it seems to have an S shape, reminiscent of a barred spiral galaxy.

The unusual shape appears consistent with a hypothesis that the dying central star is part of a binary star system with a precessing symmetry axis. NGC 5189 spans about three light years and lies about 3,000 light years away toward the southern constellation of Musca.

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  • Spiral Planetary, NGC 5189, Geoff
    Original
  • Spiral Planetary, NGC 5189, Geoff
    B
  • Final
    Spiral Planetary, NGC 5189, Geoff
    C

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Spiral Planetary, NGC 5189, Geoff