NGC7009 - the Saturn Nebula


Description: NGC7009, better known as the Saturn Nebula, is a 8th magnitude planetary nebula in Aquarius, formed when a small/medium star reaches the end of its active life and blows off its outer atmosphere (which becomes the nebula) as the star's core becomes a white dwarf, visible in the centre of both the black and white (top) and colour (bottom) images.

The nebula is composed of a spherical shell, a torus and bipolar jets. The blueish shell contrasts with the reddish torus, and the high-velocity jets immitate the rings of Saturn, hence the name. In reality, the nebula is slightly smaller than the planet in the sky, although physically much bigger.

Image information: Stacked, dark-subtracted, registered combination of 15 x 5s white light, 12 x 8s R and V and 12 x 10s B-band images. The individual bands have undergone an unsharp mask with AIP4Win and has been magnified by a factor of 2 to improve feature clarity. Image taken 14/08/2006 22:20 UT.

Physical information: Magnitude: 9.2, size: 47"x43", a.k.a: C39.

Back to: Gallery, Home