NGC 6790 (also PK 37-6.1 and HD 182083) is a magnitude +10.5 planetary nebula located 10,373 light-years away in the constellation Aquila.
The planetary nebula was discovered by American astronomer Edward Charles Pickering using a 38.1 cm (15 inch) refractor at the Harvard College Observatory on the 16th July 1882.
Right Ascension 19h 22m 56.9s, Declination +01° 30' 46.4"
Title: Raman Scattered HeII 6545 in the Young and Compact Planetary Nebula NGC 6790 Authors: Eun-Ha Kang, Hee-Won Lee, Byeong-Cheol Lee
We present the high resolution spectra of the youn and compact planetary nebula NGC 6790 obtained with the echelle spectrograph at Bohyunsan Optical Astronomy Observatory and report the discovery of Raman scattered He II 6545 in this object. This line feature is formed in a thick neutral region surrounding the hot central star, where He II 1025 line photons are scattered inelastically by hydrogen atoms. A Monte Carlo technique is adopted to compute the line profile with a simple geometric model, in which the neutral region is in the form of a cylindrical shell that is expanding from the central star. From our line profile analysis, the expansion velocity of the HI region lies in the range V_exp = 15- 19 Km/s. Less stringent constraints are put on the HI column density N_HI and covering factor C, where the total flux of Raman He II 6545 is consistent with the product of N_HI and C being CN_HI ~ 0.5 X 10^20 cm^-2. The Monte Carlo profiles from stationary emission models exhibit deficit in the wing parts. A much better fit is obtained when the He II emission region is assumed to take the form of a ring that slowly rotates with a rotation speed ~ 18Km/s. Brief discussions are presented regarding the mass loss processes and future observations.