NGC 6309

NGC 6309
Emission nebula
Planetary nebula
NGC 6309 as seen through the Hubble Space Telescope
Observation data: J2000 epoch
Right ascension17h 14m 04.3s[1]
Declination−12° 54′ 38″[1]
Apparent magnitude (V)11.5[2]
Apparent dimensions (V)0.32′[2]
ConstellationOphiuchus
DesignationsPK 9+14.1, HD 155752, Box Nebula[3]
See also: Lists of nebulae

NGC 6309, also known as the Box Nebula, is a planetary nebula located in the constellation Ophiuchus. It was discovered by the German astronomer Wilhelm Tempel in 1876.[4] It has a luminosity of about 1800 times that of the Sun.[1][2][5] The distance to this nebula is not well known, but it is assumed to be about 6,500 light-years or 2,000 parsecs.[6]

NGC 6309 is a quadrupolar nebula, with two pairs of lobes. Surrounding the pair is a spherical shell. The spherical shell formed before the four lobes.[6] The square-like shape of the nebula gives it the nickname "Box Nebula".

The central star of the planetary nebula is an O-type star with a spectral type of O(He).[7]

  1. ^ a b c "Object No. 1 - NGC 6309". NASA/IPAC extragalactic database. NASA/IPAC. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  2. ^ a b c "Revised NGC Data for NGC 6309". Seds. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  3. ^ "NGC 6309". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2021-03-21.
  4. ^ Seligman, Courtney. "NGC 6309, the Box Nebula". cseligman.com. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  5. ^ "NGC 6309". Illinois.edu. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  6. ^ a b Rubio, G.; Vázquez, R.; Ramos-Larios, G.; Guerrero, M. A.; Olguín, L.; Guillén, P. F.; Mata, H. (2015). "NGC 6309, a planetary nebula that shifted from round to multipolar". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 446 (2): 1931–1938. arXiv:1410.7060. Bibcode:2015MNRAS.446.1931R. doi:10.1093/mnras/stu2201.
  7. ^ 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.