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Created page with "{{Night Sky | image = | designation =PGC 3074547 | rightascension =12<sup>h</sup> 44<sup>m</sup> 46.09<sup>s</sup><ref name=simbad>[http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/s..."
{{Night Sky
| image =
| designation =PGC 3074547
| rightascension =12<sup>h</sup> 44<sup>m</sup> 46.09<sup>s</sup><ref name=simbad>[http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=PGC+3074547&NbIdent=1&Radius=2&Radius.unit=arcmin&submit=submit+id Boomerang nebula] from the [http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad SIMBAD Astronomical Database]</ref>
| declination =-54° 14′ 48.62″<ref name=simbad/>
| distance =5,000 ly<ref name=constellation-guide>[http://www.constellation-guide.com/boomerang-nebula/ Boomerang nebula] from constellation-guide.com</ref>
| constellation =Centaurus
| type =Protoplanetary nebula
| dimensions =1.445×0.724 arcmin<ref name=simbad/>
| magnitude =
| redshift =
| radvelocity =-12.2±2.5 km/s<ref name=simbad/>
| propmotion =RA: -2.879 mas/yr<ref name=simbad/><br/>Dec.: -1.613 mas/yr<ref name=simbad/>
| parallax =5.055±0.236 mas<ref name=simbad/>
}}
The '''Boomerang nebula''' (Centaurus bipolar nebula, PGC 3074547) is a [[protoplanetary nebula]] in the Southern[[constellation]] of [[Centaurus]].<ref name=constellation-guide/> It is known for being the coldest place in the [[universe]] with a temperature of only 1 [[kelvin]] (-460 degrees Fahrenheit/-272°C).<ref name=nasa>[https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_405.html Boomerang Nebula] from nasa.gov</ref> Like many nebulae such as the [[Omega nebula]], its name derives from early observations when it was not visible in its entirety. In this case, the lobes were not fully visible; instead only a slight curve was that appear very much like a [[boomerang]].
It is also sometimes known as the "Bow Tie nebula," a name it shares with the [[planetary nebula]] NGC 40.
==History of Observation==
The Boomerang nebula was discovered and named in 1980 by Keith Taylor and Mike Scarrott. They observed the nebula with a 3.9 meter [[telescope]] at the Siding Spring Observatory in [[New South Wales]], [[Australia]].<ref name=constellation-guide/> Unlike in modern images of the nebula, they were only able to make out a slight curved shape of the nebula's two lobes, which in their minds resembled a [[boomerang]].
15 years later in 1995, a [[radio telescope]] (the SEST in [[Chile]]) was utilized to measure the temperature of the nebula. It was subsequently measured to be only 1 [[kelvin]] (-460 degrees Fahrenheit/-272°C), making it what is believed to be the coldest place in the universe.<ref name=NRAO>[https://public.nrao.edu/news/2017-alma-boomerang/ ALMA Returns to Boomerang Nebula] from public.nrao.edu, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory website</ref> This is even colder than the [[cosmic microwave background]] which itself has a temperature of only 2.7 kelvin.
Detailed observations by the [[Hubble Space Telescope]] in 1998 revealed that the gas in the nebula is in fact distributed in a sphere rather than a bow-tie as is often seen in images.<ref name=constellation-guide/> Observations by the ALMA radio [[interferometer]] showed vast quantities of gas enveloping the two large lobes. This gas was seen using the sub-millimeter region of the [[electromagnetic spectrum]].
==Properties and Structure==
The nebula is thought to lie some 5,000 [[light year]]s from Earth.<ref name=nasa/> With an apparent size of 1.445 × 0.724, its physical size corresponds to 0.33 × 0.17 light years. Intervening dust causes the nebula to appear to be [[hourglass]] shaped though its structure is more complicated than this. It consists of large, rapidly expanding gas cloud as well as a small [[torus|toriodal]] (doughnut-shaped) cloud that is much [[density|denser]] and surrounds the central [[star]]. This smaller region of gas block light traveling outwards from the stars equator (i.e. perpendicular to the axis of the lobes) meaning only the lobes are illuminated by the star's light and visible. These is also appears to be a hollow cylindrical structure surrounding the star itself, thought to have been formed jets of [[hydrogen]] and [[helium]] gas emitted from the star's polar regions.
This complicated structure is believed to be the result of the ejection of [[gas]] and [[dust]] by the nebula's central [[star]], a [[red giant]]. The gas in the nebula is expanding rapidly, at some 164 km/s.<ref name=constellation-guide/> It is this rapid expansion is thought to have cooled to the nebula to only 1 kelvin.<ref name=NRAO/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Nebulae}}
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Nebulae]]
| image =
| designation =PGC 3074547
| rightascension =12<sup>h</sup> 44<sup>m</sup> 46.09<sup>s</sup><ref name=simbad>[http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=PGC+3074547&NbIdent=1&Radius=2&Radius.unit=arcmin&submit=submit+id Boomerang nebula] from the [http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad SIMBAD Astronomical Database]</ref>
| declination =-54° 14′ 48.62″<ref name=simbad/>
| distance =5,000 ly<ref name=constellation-guide>[http://www.constellation-guide.com/boomerang-nebula/ Boomerang nebula] from constellation-guide.com</ref>
| constellation =Centaurus
| type =Protoplanetary nebula
| dimensions =1.445×0.724 arcmin<ref name=simbad/>
| magnitude =
| redshift =
| radvelocity =-12.2±2.5 km/s<ref name=simbad/>
| propmotion =RA: -2.879 mas/yr<ref name=simbad/><br/>Dec.: -1.613 mas/yr<ref name=simbad/>
| parallax =5.055±0.236 mas<ref name=simbad/>
}}
The '''Boomerang nebula''' (Centaurus bipolar nebula, PGC 3074547) is a [[protoplanetary nebula]] in the Southern[[constellation]] of [[Centaurus]].<ref name=constellation-guide/> It is known for being the coldest place in the [[universe]] with a temperature of only 1 [[kelvin]] (-460 degrees Fahrenheit/-272°C).<ref name=nasa>[https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_405.html Boomerang Nebula] from nasa.gov</ref> Like many nebulae such as the [[Omega nebula]], its name derives from early observations when it was not visible in its entirety. In this case, the lobes were not fully visible; instead only a slight curve was that appear very much like a [[boomerang]].
It is also sometimes known as the "Bow Tie nebula," a name it shares with the [[planetary nebula]] NGC 40.
==History of Observation==
The Boomerang nebula was discovered and named in 1980 by Keith Taylor and Mike Scarrott. They observed the nebula with a 3.9 meter [[telescope]] at the Siding Spring Observatory in [[New South Wales]], [[Australia]].<ref name=constellation-guide/> Unlike in modern images of the nebula, they were only able to make out a slight curved shape of the nebula's two lobes, which in their minds resembled a [[boomerang]].
15 years later in 1995, a [[radio telescope]] (the SEST in [[Chile]]) was utilized to measure the temperature of the nebula. It was subsequently measured to be only 1 [[kelvin]] (-460 degrees Fahrenheit/-272°C), making it what is believed to be the coldest place in the universe.<ref name=NRAO>[https://public.nrao.edu/news/2017-alma-boomerang/ ALMA Returns to Boomerang Nebula] from public.nrao.edu, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory website</ref> This is even colder than the [[cosmic microwave background]] which itself has a temperature of only 2.7 kelvin.
Detailed observations by the [[Hubble Space Telescope]] in 1998 revealed that the gas in the nebula is in fact distributed in a sphere rather than a bow-tie as is often seen in images.<ref name=constellation-guide/> Observations by the ALMA radio [[interferometer]] showed vast quantities of gas enveloping the two large lobes. This gas was seen using the sub-millimeter region of the [[electromagnetic spectrum]].
==Properties and Structure==
The nebula is thought to lie some 5,000 [[light year]]s from Earth.<ref name=nasa/> With an apparent size of 1.445 × 0.724, its physical size corresponds to 0.33 × 0.17 light years. Intervening dust causes the nebula to appear to be [[hourglass]] shaped though its structure is more complicated than this. It consists of large, rapidly expanding gas cloud as well as a small [[torus|toriodal]] (doughnut-shaped) cloud that is much [[density|denser]] and surrounds the central [[star]]. This smaller region of gas block light traveling outwards from the stars equator (i.e. perpendicular to the axis of the lobes) meaning only the lobes are illuminated by the star's light and visible. These is also appears to be a hollow cylindrical structure surrounding the star itself, thought to have been formed jets of [[hydrogen]] and [[helium]] gas emitted from the star's polar regions.
This complicated structure is believed to be the result of the ejection of [[gas]] and [[dust]] by the nebula's central [[star]], a [[red giant]]. The gas in the nebula is expanding rapidly, at some 164 km/s.<ref name=constellation-guide/> It is this rapid expansion is thought to have cooled to the nebula to only 1 kelvin.<ref name=NRAO/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Nebulae}}
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Nebulae]]