Emission nebula | |
---|---|
Planetary nebula | |
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Hubble Space Telescope view of IC 4406 | |
Observation data: J2000 epoch | |
Right ascension | 14h 22m 26.278s [1] |
Declination | −44° 09′ 04.35″ [1] |
Distance | 2.0 kly (600 pc) [2] ly |
Constellation | Lupus |
Physical characteristics | |
Absolute magnitude (V) | -0.3 |
Notable features | - |
Designations | Retina Nebula [3] |
IC 4406, sometimes known as the Retina Nebula, [4] is a planetary nebula near the western border of the constellation Lupus, the Wolf. It has dust clouds and has the shape of a torus. Despite this, it looks somewhat rectangular because it is seen from its side as viewed from Earth, almost in the plane [2] of its equator.
IC 4406 is bipolar and appears to be a prolate spheroid with strong concentrations of material in its equator. [3] This kind of structure is a natural product of a bipolar model. [3] The knots of IC 4406 have a "lacy" appearance and have no ordered symmetry towards the central star. [2] The knots have no tails. [2] None of the features have bright edges. [2] At least 5 faint ring-like structures, seen as arcs north and south of the main nebula, have been detected in Very Large Telescope observations. [5]
The central star of the planetary nebula has a spectral type similar to that of a Wolf–Rayet star. [6] An analysis of Gaia data suggests that it may be a binary system. [7]
Emission nebula | |
---|---|
Planetary nebula | |
![]()
Hubble Space Telescope view of IC 4406 | |
Observation data: J2000 epoch | |
Right ascension | 14h 22m 26.278s [1] |
Declination | −44° 09′ 04.35″ [1] |
Distance | 2.0 kly (600 pc) [2] ly |
Constellation | Lupus |
Physical characteristics | |
Absolute magnitude (V) | -0.3 |
Notable features | - |
Designations | Retina Nebula [3] |
IC 4406, sometimes known as the Retina Nebula, [4] is a planetary nebula near the western border of the constellation Lupus, the Wolf. It has dust clouds and has the shape of a torus. Despite this, it looks somewhat rectangular because it is seen from its side as viewed from Earth, almost in the plane [2] of its equator.
IC 4406 is bipolar and appears to be a prolate spheroid with strong concentrations of material in its equator. [3] This kind of structure is a natural product of a bipolar model. [3] The knots of IC 4406 have a "lacy" appearance and have no ordered symmetry towards the central star. [2] The knots have no tails. [2] None of the features have bright edges. [2] At least 5 faint ring-like structures, seen as arcs north and south of the main nebula, have been detected in Very Large Telescope observations. [5]
The central star of the planetary nebula has a spectral type similar to that of a Wolf–Rayet star. [6] An analysis of Gaia data suggests that it may be a binary system. [7]