Planetary nebula
IC 289
Planetary nebula
A shell of gas thrown off by a dying Sun-like star, glowing in the ultraviolet light of the hot core at its centre. Within a few tens of thousands of years it will disperse and fade from view.
| Type | Planetary nebula |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Cassiopeia |
| Distance | 2,710 pc (8.8 thousand ly) |
| Diameter | 1.5 ly |
| Central star | V 15.9 |
| Expansion speed | 26 km/s |
| PN G name | PN G138.8+02.8 |
| Source | Strasbourg–ESO PN Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 3h 10m 19.2s |
| Declination (J2000) | +61° 19′ 01″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 29° S. North of latitude 29° N it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in November, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 8,839 years ago. At that time the first farming villages were being founded; there was no writing yet. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 157 million years.