NGC 2346

Noirlab_noao-n2346matthews_1024

noirlab_noao-n2346matthews June 19th, 2014

Credit: KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/Doug Matthews and Charles Betts/Adam Block

Butterfly in the sky.....but why? It is thought that this intriguing shape was formed by two different processes. First of all there are two stars that play the "starring" role. This pair used to orbit one another at a casual distance, but then one of them evolved into a red giant star and enveloped the other one. This means the swallowed star orbited inside of the red giant! This process both caused the two to move close together and eject a ring of gas in the process. Then strong winds from the stars blew gas perpendicular to the ring to form the wings of the "butterfly." Currently these two stars are so close they orbit each other in a period of 16 days. NGC 2346 is between 2000-3000 light years away (and perhaps 1/2 light year in extent). This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor Center during 2014.

Provider: NOIRLab

Image Source: https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noao-n2346matthews/

Curator: NSF's NOIRLab, Tucson, AZ, USA

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

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Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
NGC 2346
Noirlab_noao-n2346matthews_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 7h 9m 28.3s
DEC = 0° 51’ 38.4”
Orientation
North is 89.7° CW
Field of View
11.4 x 7.9 arcminutes
Constellation
Monoceros

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Luminosity KPNO-VC-0.5m (Other CCD) Optical (Broad Band) 555.0 nm
Blue KPNO-VC-0.5m (Other CCD) Optical (B) 438.0 nm
Green KPNO-VC-0.5m (Other CCD) Optical (G) 475.0 nm
Red KPNO-VC-0.5m (Other CCD) Optical (R) 625.0 nm
Spectrum_base
Luminosity
Blue
Green
Red
Noirlab_noao-n2346matthews_1280
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ID
noao-n2346matthews
Subject Category
Subject Name
NGC 2346
Credits
KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/Doug Matthews and Charles Betts/Adam Block
Release Date
2014-06-19T14:27:17
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noao-n2346matthews/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Facility
Visitor Center 0.5-meter Telescope, Visitor Center 0.5-meter Telescope, Visitor Center 0.5-meter Telescope, Visitor Center 0.5-meter Telescope
Instrument
Other CCD, Other CCD, Other CCD, Other CCD
Color Assignment
Luminosity, Blue, Green, Red
Band
Optical, Optical, Optical, Optical
Bandpass
Broad Band, B, G, R
Central Wavelength
555, 438, 475, 625
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
None, None, None, None
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
107.368009567, -0.86067502311
Reference Dimension
1336.0, 921.0
Reference Pixel
381.994702339, 639.377269745
Scale
-0.000142181744254, 0.000142582341695
Rotation
-89.735227521226
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
NSF's NOIRLab
URL
https://noirlab.edu
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
950 North Cherry Ave.
City
Tucson
State/Province
AZ
Postal Code
85719
Country
USA
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Publisher
NSF's NOIRLab
Publisher ID
noirlab
Resource ID
noao-n2346matthews
Metadata Date
2021-09-14T08:43:35-05:00
Metadata Version
1.1
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

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