Another obscure planetary nebula

[Stevec35]

It's been a while since I posted an image so I thought I would kick things off again with another obscure planetary nebula. This one is in Centaurus and the catalogue designation is VBRC 5. It's also known as the hammer nebula for obvious reasons. Certainly a very strange shape for a planetary.

Cheers

Steve

http://members.pcug.org.au/~stevec/VBRC5_STXL16200_RC14.htm

[gaseous]

Great shot Steve, keep 'em coming.

[strongmanmike]

A little beauty that Steve, wonder if it is a movement based shock front effect?

Mike

[Stevec35]

Thanks Mike. Wondered that myself.



Thanks Patrick

[Placidus]

Lovely. As Strong Mike says, looks like its forming a shock front due to movement relative to the background gas. Can't see any obvious candidate for the white dwarf. Perhaps that fits with the movement hypothesis.

Certainly looks like a hammer, but with the depth you've achieved, it could also be called the Thumbtack nebula, or even the Dangerous Mushroom nebula.

[Geoff45]

Nice capture Steve. Why go for the low hanging fruit when there are challenges like this one. I actually see a long horned bull rather than a hammer.
Geoff

[Stevec35]

Thanks Geoff. Not much of a challenge really but my attitude to the low hanging fruit is "been there, done that". The shape is certainly subject to interpretation but my first impression was a claw hammer.



Thanks Mike. There are certainly plenty of interpretations as to the shape. I don't really have any information on it other than what Sakib Rasool gave me which wasn't much else other than the position.