NGC 5189 "The Spiral Planetary Nebula"

Click image to view entire frame

 

Telescope: 0.32 in NSW, Au

Camera Filters: Oxygen, Hydrogen, Sulfur

Total exposure: 6 hours

Image width: 1/3 degree

NGC 5189 is a very small and difficult to image  Planetary Nebula at a distance of about 300 light years from earth. The central star is actually a double star: a white dwarf and a Wolf-Rayet star. It is thought that this orbiting pair is a major cause of the unusual S-shaped nebula.

 

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