A rather brief exposure image of the 'Clown Face' Nebula, which nonetheless shows some of the main features.
The Eskimo Nebula is a bipolar planetary nebula located in Gemini constellation. It is sometimes also known as the Clown Face Nebula. NGC 2392 was created roughly 10,000 years ago, when a Sun-like star used up all the hydrogen at its core, started to cool and expand, growing by tens to hundreds of times its original size and eventually expelled its outer layers to form the planetary nebula.
The central star will eventually collapse and become a white dwarf. The radiation of the star’s hot core and interaction of stellar winds have created the nebula’s expanding shell. The Eskimo Nebula spans about a third of a light year and is located in our galaxy, the Milky Way. The nebula is composed of two elliptical lobes of matter that stream above and below the central star. The Eskimo Nebula is one of the youngest planetary nebulae known. It started forming only about 10,000 years ago, when the central star started ejecting material into space. Scientists believe that the star had a ring of dense material around the equator, which was ejected during the star’s red giant phase. The equatorial disk was responsible for creating the nebula’s shape.
Constellation: Gemini
Coordinates: 07h 29m 10.7669s (right ascension), +20°54’42.488” (declination)
Distance: ≥ 2,870 light years (≥ 880 parsecs)
Radius: ≥ 0.34 light years
Visual magnitude: 10.1
Absolute magnitude: ≤0.4
Apparent dimensions: 48″ × 48″
Age: 10,000 years
Designations: Eskimo Nebula, Clown Face Nebula, Clown Face, NGC 2392, Caldwell 39, HIP 36369,
BD+21 1609, PN G197.8+17.3
reference:
http://www.constellation-guide.com/eskimo-nebula-ngc-2392/with thanks.
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