Medusa Nebula

E536136

Medusa Nebula is a large, faint planetary nebula in the constellation Gemini, known for its filamentary, serpentine structures that inspired its mythological name.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Medusa Nebula canonical 2

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf emission nebula
planetary nebula
bestObservedIn late winter
bestSeenFrom Northern Hemisphere
catalog Abell catalog of planetary nebulae
Perek-Kohoutek catalog of planetary nebulae
Sharpless catalog of H II regions
linked to: Sharpless catalogue
discoveredBy George O. Abell
discoveryYear 1955
formedFrom ejected outer layers of a dying star
hasAge on the order of tens of thousands of years
hasAlternativeName Abell 21
PK 205+14.1
Sh2-274
hasAngularSize about 10 arcminutes
hasApparentMagnitude ~10.2
hasCentralStar white dwarf
hasCentralStarSpectralType hot subdwarf / white dwarf type
hasColor greenish-blue OIII emission
reddish H-alpha emission
hasDeclination +13° 15′
hasDiscoveryDesignation Abell 21
hasDistanceFromEarth about 1500 light-years
about 460 parsecs
hasFilamentaryStructure yes
hasGalacticLatitude +14°
hasGalacticLongitude 205°
hasIonizedElements hydrogen
nitrogen
oxygen
hasMorphologicalType planetary nebula of old age
hasNotableFeature complex filamentary arcs
serpentine structures resembling snakes of Medusa’s hair
hasPhysicalNature ionized gas shell
hasRightAscension 07h 29m
hasSerpentineAppearance yes
hasShape irregular, crescent-like form
isExtendedSource yes
isFaintObject yes
locatedIn Milky Way
Orion Arm of the Milky Way
linked to: Orion Arm
locatedInConstellation Gemini
namedAfter Medusa from Greek mythology
linked to: Medusa
requiresForObservation dark skies
moderate to large amateur telescope
visibleIn narrowband filters (H-alpha, OIII)
optical wavelengths

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Gemini containsDeepSkyObject Medusa Nebula
Gemini containsDeepSkyObject Medusa Nebula
subject linked to: constellation Gemini