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Post Info TOPIC: NGC 6879


L

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Dying star cocooned within its own gases

potw1102a.jpg

Astronomers have used the NASA / ESA Hubble Space Telescope to image the tiny planetary nebula NGC 6886. These celestial objects signal the final death throes of mid-sized stars (up to about eight times the mass of the Sun); when such a star exhausts its supply of hydrogen fuel, the outer layers begin to expand and cool, which creates an envelope of gas and dust that shrouds the dying star.
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NGC 6879 (also PK 57-8.1) is a magnitude +12.5 planetary nebula located 7,000 light-years away in the constellation Sagitta.

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 8th May 1883.
The planetary nebula was rediscovered by English astronomer Ralph Copeland using a 15-inch Grubb refractor at the Dun Echt obsrvatory, Scotland (or from Arequipa?, Andes) on the 9th September 1884.

Right Ascension 20h 10m 26.6s, Declination +16° 55' 22"



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