Right ascension 14 11 52.06 Distance 7,000 ly (2,100 pc) ly | Declination −51° 26′ 24.1″ Constellation Centaurus | |
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Notable features Has a symbiotic star system at its center Designations V852 Cen, Hen 2-104, IRAS 14085-5112, PN G315.4+09.4, Wray 16-147, 2MASS J14115206-5126241 People also search for Omicron1 Centauri, HD 108063 | ||
The Southern Crab Nebula or Hen 2-104 is a nebula in the constellation Centaurus. The nebula is several thousand light years from Earth, and its central star is a symbiotic Mira variable - white dwarf pair. It is named for its resemblance to the Crab Nebula, which is in the northern sky.
The nebula had already been observed using Earth-based telescopes, but images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope (shown) in 1999 have provided much more detail, revealing that at the center of the nebula are a pair of stars, a red giant and a white dwarf.
References
Southern Crab Nebula Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA