WISE Image Reveals Strange Specimen In Starry Sea

Wise_wise2010-041_1024

wise_WISE2010-041 November 17th, 2010

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA

This image shows a puffy, dying star, or planetary nebula, known as NGC 1514. The object is actually a pair of stars -- one star is a dying giant somewhat heavier and hotter than our sun, and the other was an even larger star that has now contracted into a dense body called a white dwarf. As the giant star ages, it sheds some its outer layers of material to form a large bubble around the two stars. Jets of material from the white dwarf are thought to have smashed into this bubble wall. The areas where the jets hit the cavity walls appear as orange rings in the WISE image. This is because dust in the rings is being heated and glows with infrared light that WISE detects.

Provider: Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer

Image Source: http://wise.ssl.berkeley.edu

Curator: Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Berkeley, CA, USA

Image Use Policy: Pulic Domain

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
NGC 1514
Subject - Milky Way
Nebula > Type > Planetary

Distance

Universescale1
815 light years
Wise_wise2010-041_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 4h 9m 17.0s
DEC = 30° 46’ 33.4”
Orientation
North is up
Field of View
60.0 x 60.0 arcminutes
Constellation
Taurus

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue WISE Infrared (Near-IR) 3.4 µm
Cyan WISE Infrared (Near-IR) 4.6 µm
Green WISE Infrared (Mid-IR) 12.0 µm
Red WISE Infrared (Mid-IR) 22.0 µm
Spectrum_ir1
Blue
Cyan
Green
Red
Wise_wise2010-041_1280
×
ID
WISE2010-041
Subject Category
B.4.1.3.  
Subject Name
NGC 1514
Credits
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA
Release Date
2010-11-17
Lightyears
815
Redshift
Reference Url
http://wise.ssl.berkeley.edu
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Michael E. Ressler et al 2010 The Astronomical Journal 140 1882
Facility
WISE, WISE, WISE, WISE
Instrument
Color Assignment
Blue, Cyan, Green, Red
Band
Infrared, Infrared, Infrared, Infrared
Bandpass
Near-IR, Near-IR, Mid-IR, Mid-IR
Central Wavelength
3400, 4600, 12000, 22000
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
62.320792, 30.775956
Reference Dimension
2618, 2618
Reference Pixel
1309.5, 1309.5
Scale
-0.0003819444391411, 0.0003819444391411
Rotation
0
Coordinate System Projection:
SIN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer
URL
http://wise.astro.ucla.edu
Name
Email
outreach@ssl.berkeley.edu
Telephone
Address
7 Gauss Way
City
Berkeley
State/Province
CA
Postal Code
94720
Country
USA
Rights
Pulic Domain
Publisher
WISE
Publisher ID
wise
Resource ID
Resource URL
http://wise.ssl.berkeley.edu/gallery_images.html
Related Resources
Metadata Date
2011-08-05
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
815 light years

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