C74 · planetary nebula

Eight-Burst Nebula

NGC 3132 is a bright and extensively studied planetary nebula in the constellation Vela.

RA10h 07m 01sDec−40° 26' 11"

Image: Image: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (a U.S. federal government agency; https://www.nasa.gov/ ) European space agency ( https://www.esa.int/ ), Canadian Space Agency ( https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/ ) Space Telescope Science Institute ( https://www.stsci.edu/ , science operations center for the Hubble Space Telescope ). Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Identity & coordinates

Identification

Primary designation: C74
All designations: C74 · NGC 3132 · Eight-Burst Nebula
Object type: Planetary Nebula
Constellation: Vela
Best viewing: Winter · Spring

Coordinates & physical

Right ascension (J2000): 10h 07m 01s
Declination (J2000): −40° 26' 11"
Apparent magnitude (V): —
Distance: —
Redshift (z): 0.000163

III

Visibility tonight

The science

NGC 3132 is a bright and extensively studied planetary nebula in the constellation Vela. Its distance from Earth is estimated at 613 pc or 2,000 light-years. From Earth, it appears to have a strongly elliptical shape. Three-dimensional modeling of the nebula has found that NGC 3132 is a bipolar nebula, with its major axis inclined about twenty degrees from the line of sight. The central low-density cavity is surrounded by multiple ring-like structures.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia · CC-BY-SA-4.0