Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Leo (Leo)
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Large, Faint PN G221.5 + 46.3 in Leo, M.J. Post
Large, Faint PN G221.5 + 46.3 in Leo
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Large, Faint PN G221.5 + 46.3 in Leo

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Large, Faint PN G221.5 + 46.3 in Leo, M.J. Post
Large, Faint PN G221.5 + 46.3 in Leo
Powered byPixInsight

Large, Faint PN G221.5 + 46.3 in Leo

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Description

I measure this planetary nebula to have a diameter of about 14 arc min, although other sources have it slightly smaller (12 arc min).  Nonetheless, its large size points to an old age and explains its diminished brightness.   It was discovered in 1978 and has been studied extensively by various science teams using the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes.  The central white dwarf progenitor star is extremely hot (85,000K) and the system's nucleus has been described as "enigmatic".  It seems there must be a small, low-luminosity companion star  which has captured some of the original "wind" from the progenitor, now ionized by the white dwarf.  To me, this PN displays unusual structure in both its H-alpha and OIII emissions, even though the overall structure nicely fits the classical spherical model for a companionless progenitor star.  This HOO rendition is false-color, but the PN's true colors are well approximated.

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Large, Faint PN G221.5 + 46.3 in Leo, M.J. Post