NGC 3918
NGC 3918 is a bright
arcsec, though deep images extends this to about 19 or 20 arcsec. More surprising is the beautiful rich blue colour that looks much like the coloured images of Neptune taken by Voyager 2
in 1989.
Spectroscopy reveals NGC 3918 is approaching us at 17±3.0 kilometres per second, while the nebulosity is expanding at around 24 kilometres per second. The central star is 14.6 visible light magnitude, and remains invisible to optical observers, as it is obscured by the sheer brightness of the surrounding nebula.[2]
The distance is estimated at 1.5
kpc (4 900 light-years
).
See also
References
- ^ a b c "NGC 3918". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2007-04-20.
- doi:10.1086/165085.
External links
Media related to NGC 3918 at Wikimedia Commons
