Planetary nebula
NGC 5315
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 | Circinus |
| Distance | 1,300 pc (4.2 thousand ly) |
| Diameter | 0.1 ly |
| Central star | V 14.4 · WC 4 |
| Expansion speed | 40 km/s |
| PN G name | PN G309.1-04.3 |
| Source | Strasbourg–ESO PN Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 13h 53m 57.9s |
| Declination (J2000) | −66° 30′ 52″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 23° N. South of latitude 23° S it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in April, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 4,240 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 75 million years.