Thread: PN Hf 39
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Old 27-04-2008, 01:27 PM
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ngcles
The Observologist

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Location: Billimari, NSW Central West
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Hf 39

Hi Glen,

Nope, haven't seen it and I think it is unlikely that any of us will see the actual nebula given the emission lines it shines at.

This is not a classical PNe like the ones formed at the end of the lives of sun-like low to medium mass stars, but a ring-type wind-blown shell nebula formed from a LBV star.

There is a very detailed paper (using the echellle spectrograph on the AAT) on the properties of this star and the nebula surrounding it here:

http://cdsads.u-strasbg.fr/full/1994A%26A...281..833S

And the writers conclude that the central star should be re-classified as a W11 wolf-rayet star and that it possesses some properties in common with the nearby AG Carinae (which also has a dusty ring).

While the star (at ~mag 11 is certainly observable, the nebula is not really visible (at visual wavelengths). It is a very, very young nebula being only 2x10^4 yrs old

Best,

Les D
Contributing Editor

AS&T
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