IC 4406

IC 4406
Emission nebula
Planetary nebula
Hubble Space Telescope view of IC 4406
Observation data: J2000 epoch
Right ascension14h 22m 26.278s
Declination−44° 09′ 04.35″
Distance2.0 kly (600 pc) ly
ConstellationLupus
Physical characteristics
Absolute magnitude (V)-0.3
Notable features-
DesignationsRetina Nebula
See also: Lists of nebulae

IC 4406, sometimes known as the Retina Nebula, 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 of its equator.

Structure

IC 4406 is bipolar and appears to be a prolate spheroid with strong concentrations of material in its equator. This kind of structure is a natural product of a bipolar model. The knots of IC 4406 have a "lacy" appearance and have no ordered symmetry towards the central star. The knots have no tails. None of the features have bright edges. 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.

The central star of the planetary nebula has a spectral type similar to that of a Wolf–Rayet star. An analysis of Gaia data suggests that it may be a binary system.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "SIMBAD Astronomical Database". Results for IC 4406. Retrieved 2006-12-19.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 O'dell, C. R.; Balick, B.; Hajian, A. R.; Henney, W. J.; et al. (2003). "Knots in Planetary Nebulae". In S. J. Arthur & W. J. Henney (ed.). Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica (Serie de Conferencias). Winds, Bubbles, and Explosions: a conference to honor John Dyson, Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, México, September 9–13, 2002. Vol. 15. pp. 29–33. Bibcode:2003RMxAC..15...29O. Archived from the original on 2018-05-01. Retrieved 2006-12-19.
  3. 1 2 3 O'Dell, C. R.; Balick, B.; Hajian, A. R.; Henney, W. J.; Burkert, A. (2002). "Knots in Nearby Planetary Nebulae". The Astronomical Journal. 123 (6): 3329–3347. Bibcode:2002AJ....123.3329O. doi:10.1086/340726.
  4. ↑ Chadwick, Stephen; Cooper, Ian (11 December 2012). Imaging the Southern Sky. Springer. p. 149. ISBN 978-1461447498.
  5. ↑ Ramos-Larios, G.; Toalá, J. A.; Rodríguez-González, J. B.; Guerrero, M. A.; Gómez-González, V. M. A. (June 2022). "Rings and arcs around evolved stars - III. Physical conditions of the ring-like structures in the planetary nebula IC 4406 revealed by MUSE". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 513 (2): 2862–2868. arXiv:2203.01254. Bibcode:2022MNRAS.513.2862R. doi:10.1093/mnras/stac605. hdl:10261/275661.
  6. ↑ González-Santamaría, I.; Manteiga, M.; Manchado, A.; Ulla, A.; Dafonte, C.; López Varela, P. (2021). "Planetary nebulae in Gaia EDR3: Central star identification, properties, and binarity". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 656: A51. arXiv:2109.12114. Bibcode:2021A&A...656A..51G. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202141916. S2CID 237940344.
  7. ↑ Chornay, N.; Walton, N. A.; Jones, D.; Boffin, H. M. J.; Rejkuba, M.; Wesson, R. (2021). "Towards a more complete sample of binary central stars of planetary nebulae with Gaia". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 648: A95. arXiv:2101.01800. Bibcode:2021A&A...648A..95C. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202140288. S2CID 230770301.
  8. ↑ "Cutting-edge Adaptive Optics Facility Sees First Light - Spectacular improvement in the sharpness of MUSE images". www.eso.org. Retrieved 4 August 2017.