Medusa nebula, Abell 21

The Medusa nebula, known scientifically as Abell 21, is an old planetary nebula some 1,500 light-years away in the constellation Gemini. It is estimated to be over 4 light-years across. This image was taken on Oct 24th, 2008 at the Mayall telescope with the mosaic camera, with [OIII] (assigned a blue color) and H-alpha (orange) filters This image was released during the 100 Hours of Astronomy webcast, "Around the World in 80 Telescopes" held from April 3-4, 2009, during the International Year of Astronomy 2009. View the recorded event from KPNO. See also this image of NGC 6520 from CTIO, which was also released during the webcast.

Credit:

T. A. Rector/University of Alaska Anchorage and H. Schweiker/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA and NOIRLab/NSF/AURA

About the Image

Id:noaoann09008a
Type:Observation
Release date:April 21, 2009
Related announcements:noaoann09008
Size:8333 x 8304 px

About the Object

Name:Medusa Nebula, Sh 2-274
Distance:1800 light years
Constellation:Gemini
Category:Nebulae

Image Formats

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33.0 MB
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285.8 KB

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Coordinates

ObjectValue
Position (RA):7 29 3.46
Position (Dec):13° 15' 16.17"
Field of view:36.03 x 35.90 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 90.1° left of vertical


Colors & filters

BandWave-lengthTele-scope
Optical
Olll
499 nmNicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope
Mosaic I
Optical
Ha
656 nmNicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope
Mosaic I