Stingray Nebula in 1996
About This Image
Caption
This image shows the planetary nebula Hen 3-1357, nicknamed the Stingray nebula, captured by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope in March 1996. The image captures the final stages of the central star’s life, where a ballooning shroud of gas is cast off by the dying star. This image captured the Stingray nebula in its infancy and astronomers called it the youngest known planetary nebula. In this image, the colors shown represent light emitted by nitrogen (red), oxygen (green), and hydrogen (blue).
About The Object
- Object Name
- Hen 3-1357 (Stingray Nebula)
- Object Description
- Planetary Nebula
- R.A. Position
- 17:16:21.07
- Dec. Position
- -59:29:23.64
- Constellation
- Ara
- Distance
- 18,260 light-years
- Dimensions
- Image is about 6 arcsec across (about 0.5 light-years)
About The Data
- Data Description
- The HST observations include those from programs 6039 (M. Bobrowsky)
- Instrument
- WFPC2
- Exposure Dates
- 09 March 1996
- Filters
- F502N, F656N, F658N
About The Image
- Color Info
- These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the WFPC2 instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope. Several filters were used to sample narrow wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: F502N Green: F656N Red: F658N
- Compass and Scale Image
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About The Object
- Object Name
- A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
- Object Description
- The type of astronomical object.
- R.A. Position
- Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
- Dec. Position
- Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
- Constellation
- One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
- Distance
- The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
- Dimensions
- The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.
About The Data
- Data Description
- Proposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
- Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.
- Instrument
- The science instrument used to produce the data.
- Exposure Dates
- The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
- Filters
- The camera filters that were used in the science observations.
About The Image
- Color Info
- A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.
- Compass and Scale Image
- An astronomical image with a scale that shows how large an object is on the sky, a compass that shows how the object is oriented on the sky, and the filters with which the image was made.
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