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Boomerang Nebula




  Name Boomerang Nebula
  Epoch J2000
  Dist Ly 5 Kly (15 Kpc )
  Size V 1&prime445 &times 0&prime724
  Constellation Centaurus
  Names Centaurus Bipolar Nebula


The Boomerang Nebula (also called the '''Bow Tie Nebula''') is a Protoplanetary Nebula located 5,000 Light-years away from Earth in the Centaurus Constellation . The nebula was - remembering we see it as it appeared 5,000 years ago - at 1 Kelvin , the coldest place known outside a laboratory. The Boomerang Nebula was formed from the outflow of gas from a star at its core. The gas was moving outwards at a speed of about 164 Km/s and expanded rapidly as it moved out into space. This expansion was the cause of the nebula's very low temperature.

The Boomerang Nebula was photographed in detail by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1998 . It is believed that the nebula is a Star or Stellar System evolving toward the Planetary Nebula Phase .

Keith Taylor and Mike Scarrott called it the 'Boomerang Nebula' in 1980 after observing it with the Anglo-Australian telescope at the Siding Spring Observatory . Unable to see the detail that only Hubble can reveal, the astronomers saw merely a slight asymmetry in the nebula's lobes, suggesting a curved shape like a boomerang. The high-resolution Hubble images indicate that the 'Bow Tie Nebula' would perhaps have been a better name.


NOTES




REFERENCES


  Surname1 SIMBAD
  Title Results for Boomerang Nebula
  Authorlink SIMBAD
  Journal
  Year 2007
  Date January 4 2007
  Publisher SIMBAD, Centre de Données Astronomiques de Strasbourg
  URL http://simbadu-strasbgfr/simbad/sim-idprotocol=html&Ident=Boomerang+Nebula


  Last Cauchi
  First Stephen
  Title Coolest bow tie in the universe
  Newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald
  Year 2003
  Month February
  Date February 21 2003
  AccessDate February 2 2007
  URL http://wwwsmhcomau/articles/2003/02/20/1045638427695html




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