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Created page with "{{Night Sky | image = | designation = | rightascension =17<sup>h</sup> 46<sup>m</sup> 15.2<sup>s</sup><ref name=simbad>[http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id..."
{{Night Sky
| image =
| designation =
| rightascension =17<sup>h</sup> 46<sup>m</sup> 15.2<sup>s</sup><ref name=simbad>[http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=pistol+nebula&NbIdent=1&Radius=2&Radius.unit=arcmin&submit=submit+id Pistol nebula] from the [http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad SIMBAD Astronomical Database]</ref>
| declination =-28° 49′ 49″<ref name=simbad/>
| distance =25,000 ly<ref name=nasa>[https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_835.html A Brilliant Star in Milky Way's Core] from nasa.gov</ref>
| constellation =Sagittarius
| type =Emission nebula
| dimensions =
| magnitude =
| redshift =
| radvelocity =
| propmotion =
| parallax =
}}
The '''Pistol nebula''' is an [[emission nebula]] in the [[constellation]] of [[Sagittarius]].<ref name=constellation-guide>[http://www.constellation-guide.com/pistol-star/ Pistol Star and Nebula] from constellation-guide.com</ref> The first images of the nebula produced in the 1980s were of low resolution and appeared similar to a [[pistol]], giving the nebula its name. The nebula is known for housing one of the most luminous [[star]]s known, the Pistol star, which is believed to be well over million times brighter than the [[Sun]].<ref name=nasa/> The gas composing the nebula is thought to have been ejected by the star.
==Properties and Structure==
The nebula has a roughly rectangular shape, with [[dust]] and [[gas|gaseous]] material present in two shells concentric with the Pistol star.<ref name=constellation-guide/> This material is thought to have been blown off of the Pistol star by powerful [[stellar wind]]s around 4,000-6,000 years ago.<ref name=nasa/> The nebula contains (excluding the Pistol star) around 9.3 [[solar mass]]es of material. The larger of the two shells is thought to be 4 [[light year]]s across and is currently expanding at 60 km/s.<ref name=arxiv>Figer, D., Morris, M., Geballe, T., Rich, R., Serabyn, E., McLean, I., Puetter, R. and Yahil, A. (1999). High-Resolution Infrared Imaging and Spectroscopy of the Pistol Nebula: Evidence for Ejection. ''The Astrophysical Journal'', 525(2), pp.759-771. [https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9906479 arXiv:astro-ph/9906479]</ref> The nebula is [[ionization|ionized]] by [[Wolf-Rayet star]]s in the Quintuplet Cluster as well as their strong stellar winds.<ref name=constellation-guide/>
===Pistol Star===
The Pistol star, designated V4647 Sagittarii, is a blue hypergiant and a candidate [[variable star|luminous blue variable]] or cLVB.<ref name=constellation-guide/> Discovered by Don Figer in the 1990s it is one of the brightest known [[star]]s, specifically at least 10<sup>6.6</sup> times brighter than the [[Sun]].<ref name=constellation-guide/><ref name=arxiv/> For a comparison, it radiates the same amount of energy in 20 seconds as the Sun does in an entire year. This results in an extraordinarily strong stellar wind, some 10 billion times more powerful than is outputted by the Sun and travels at 95 km/s.<ref name=arxiv/> It must be observed in the [[infrared]] region of the [[electromagnetic spectrum]] due to interstellar dust surrounding the star. If it were not for the dust, it would appear as a fourth [[Star magnitude|magnitude]] star even though it is over 25,000 light years away.<ref name=nasa/>
It is thought to weigh more than 100 [[solar mass]]es but may have been composed of more than 200 solar masses of material in the past, much of it ejected into the nebula.<ref name=nasa/> However estimates vary with some putting it lower at 26.5 solar masses.<ref name=constellation-guide/> Unsurprisingly, the star itself is physically very large; its [[radius]] is greater than the distance between the [[Earth]] and the Sun or 93 million miles.<ref>[https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/the-pistol-nebula The Pistol Nebula] from nasa.gov</ref> The star possess a temperature of 11,800 k.<ref name=constellation-guide/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Nebulae}}
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Nebulae]]
| image =
| designation =
| rightascension =17<sup>h</sup> 46<sup>m</sup> 15.2<sup>s</sup><ref name=simbad>[http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=pistol+nebula&NbIdent=1&Radius=2&Radius.unit=arcmin&submit=submit+id Pistol nebula] from the [http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad SIMBAD Astronomical Database]</ref>
| declination =-28° 49′ 49″<ref name=simbad/>
| distance =25,000 ly<ref name=nasa>[https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_835.html A Brilliant Star in Milky Way's Core] from nasa.gov</ref>
| constellation =Sagittarius
| type =Emission nebula
| dimensions =
| magnitude =
| redshift =
| radvelocity =
| propmotion =
| parallax =
}}
The '''Pistol nebula''' is an [[emission nebula]] in the [[constellation]] of [[Sagittarius]].<ref name=constellation-guide>[http://www.constellation-guide.com/pistol-star/ Pistol Star and Nebula] from constellation-guide.com</ref> The first images of the nebula produced in the 1980s were of low resolution and appeared similar to a [[pistol]], giving the nebula its name. The nebula is known for housing one of the most luminous [[star]]s known, the Pistol star, which is believed to be well over million times brighter than the [[Sun]].<ref name=nasa/> The gas composing the nebula is thought to have been ejected by the star.
==Properties and Structure==
The nebula has a roughly rectangular shape, with [[dust]] and [[gas|gaseous]] material present in two shells concentric with the Pistol star.<ref name=constellation-guide/> This material is thought to have been blown off of the Pistol star by powerful [[stellar wind]]s around 4,000-6,000 years ago.<ref name=nasa/> The nebula contains (excluding the Pistol star) around 9.3 [[solar mass]]es of material. The larger of the two shells is thought to be 4 [[light year]]s across and is currently expanding at 60 km/s.<ref name=arxiv>Figer, D., Morris, M., Geballe, T., Rich, R., Serabyn, E., McLean, I., Puetter, R. and Yahil, A. (1999). High-Resolution Infrared Imaging and Spectroscopy of the Pistol Nebula: Evidence for Ejection. ''The Astrophysical Journal'', 525(2), pp.759-771. [https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9906479 arXiv:astro-ph/9906479]</ref> The nebula is [[ionization|ionized]] by [[Wolf-Rayet star]]s in the Quintuplet Cluster as well as their strong stellar winds.<ref name=constellation-guide/>
===Pistol Star===
The Pistol star, designated V4647 Sagittarii, is a blue hypergiant and a candidate [[variable star|luminous blue variable]] or cLVB.<ref name=constellation-guide/> Discovered by Don Figer in the 1990s it is one of the brightest known [[star]]s, specifically at least 10<sup>6.6</sup> times brighter than the [[Sun]].<ref name=constellation-guide/><ref name=arxiv/> For a comparison, it radiates the same amount of energy in 20 seconds as the Sun does in an entire year. This results in an extraordinarily strong stellar wind, some 10 billion times more powerful than is outputted by the Sun and travels at 95 km/s.<ref name=arxiv/> It must be observed in the [[infrared]] region of the [[electromagnetic spectrum]] due to interstellar dust surrounding the star. If it were not for the dust, it would appear as a fourth [[Star magnitude|magnitude]] star even though it is over 25,000 light years away.<ref name=nasa/>
It is thought to weigh more than 100 [[solar mass]]es but may have been composed of more than 200 solar masses of material in the past, much of it ejected into the nebula.<ref name=nasa/> However estimates vary with some putting it lower at 26.5 solar masses.<ref name=constellation-guide/> Unsurprisingly, the star itself is physically very large; its [[radius]] is greater than the distance between the [[Earth]] and the Sun or 93 million miles.<ref>[https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/the-pistol-nebula The Pistol Nebula] from nasa.gov</ref> The star possess a temperature of 11,800 k.<ref name=constellation-guide/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Nebulae}}
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Nebulae]]