Planetary nebula
NGC 6842
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 | Vulpecula |
| Distance | 2,300 pc (7.5 thousand ly) |
| Diameter | 2.1 ly |
| Central star | V 16.0 |
| Expansion speed | 35 km/s |
| PN G name | PN G065.9+00.5 |
| Source | Strasbourg–ESO PN Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 55m 02.3s |
| Declination (J2000) | +29° 17′ 21″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 61° S. North of latitude 61° N it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in July, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 7,502 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 133 million years.