Hubble's variable nebula is named (like the Hubble telescope itself) after the American astronomer Edwin P. Hubble, who carried out some of the early studies of this object. It is a fan-shaped cloud of gas and dust which is illuminated by R Monocerotis (R Mon), the bright star at the bottom end of the nebula. Dense condensations of dust near the star cast shadows out into the nebula, and as they move the illumination changes, giving rise to the variations first noted by Hubble. The star itself, lying about 2,500 light-years from Earth, cannot be seen directly, but only through light scattered off of dust particles in the surrounding nebula. R Mon is believed to have a mass of about 10 times that of the Sun, and to have an age of only 300,000 years. There is probably a symmetrical counterpart of the fan-shaped nebula on the southern side of the star, but it is heavily obscured from view by dust lying between this lobe and our line of sight.
The Hubble Heritage team made this image from observations of R Mon acquired by William Sparks (STScI), Sylvia Baggett (STScI) and collaborators.
Credits
NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI).| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | Hubble's Variable Nebula, NGC 2261, R Monocerotis Nebula |
| Object Description | Reflection Nebula in the Milky Way Galaxy |
| R.A. Position | 06h 39m 10.0s |
| Dec. Position | 08° 45' 0.0" |
| Constellation | Monoceros |
| Distance | 2,500 light-years (800 pc) |
| Dimensions | The nebula is about 1 light-year across. The image is 2.5 arcminutes on the vertical side. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The Hubble Heritage team made this image from observations of R Mon acquired by Principal Astronomers: W. Sparks and S. Baggett (STScI) and collaborators |
| Instrument | HST>WFPC2 |
| Exposure Dates | February 5, 1995, Exposure Time: 1.6 hours |
| Filters | F555W (V), F675W (R), and F814W (I) |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | Blue: F555W (V) Green: F675W (R) Red: F814W (I) |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
