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Planetary Nebula BD+30 3639:
Chandra Discovers Elusive "Hot Bubble" in Planetary Nebula
X-ray image of the Planetary
Nebula BD+30 3639. The Chandra image shows a hot
bubble of 3 million degree Celsius gas surrounding a
dying, Sun-like star that is about 5000 light years
from Earth. The distance across the bubble is roughly
100 times the diameter of our solar system.
A planetary nebula (so called because it looks like a
planet when viewed with a small telescope) is formed
when a dying red giant star puffs off its outer layer,
leaving behind a hot core that will eventually collapse
to form a dense star called a white dwarf. According to
theory, a "hot bubble" is formed when a new, two
million mile per hour wind emanating from the hot core
rams into the ejected atmosphere and heats the
interaction region to temperatures of millions of
degrees. We are seeing the nebula about a thousand
years after it formed.
| Fast Facts for BD+30-3639: |
| Credit |
NASA/RIT/J.Kastner et al. |
| Scale |
Image is 6.6 arcsec on a side. (1 arcsec = 230 billion kilometers at a distance of 5000 light years.) |
| Category |
White Dwarfs & Planetary Nebulas |
| Coordinates (J2000) |
RA 19h 34m 45.20s | Dec +30° 30' 59.10" |
| Constellation |
Cygnus |
| Observation Dates |
March 21, 2000
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| Observation Time |
5 hours |
| Obs. IDs |
587
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| Color Code |
Intensity |
| Instrument |
ACIS |
| Also Known As | Campbell's Star | | References | J. Kastner et al. (AAS 196, #43.03) |
| Distance Estimate |
5,000 light years |
| Release Date |
June 06, 2000 |
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