Right ascension 15 34 17.002 Apparent magnitude (V) 12.0 | Declination −59° 09′ 09.05″ Apparent dimensions (V) 76″ × 23″ | |
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Distance 3,400 ± 500 ly (1,050 ± 150 pc) ly | ||
Mz 1 (Menzel 1), is a bipolar planetary nebula (PN) in the constellation Norma.
Contents
Characteristics
Menzel 1 is a bright PN that has a prominent central ring of enhanced emission. One model of its structure is a three-dimensional hour-glass shape with a smoothly decreasing density starting from the waist or equator as measured outwardly to the poles. It is radially expanding at a rate of about 23 km/s and estimated to be around 4,500 to 10,000 years old and has its polar axis oriented at an angle of around 40° from the plane of the sky. Its central star is estimated to have a mass of 0.63 ± 0.05 M☉. In 1992 Schwarz, Corradi, & Melnick published narrow band images of Mz 1 in Hα and [OIII]. H2 emission was observed in Mz 1 by Webster, Payne, Storey, Dopita (1988). However, despite its relative brightness, Mz 1 has only been studied in a few papers (Monteiro et al. 2005).
History
Mz 1 was discovered by Donald Howard Menzel in 1922. (Menzel 1922)