NGC 1435
Encyclopedia
The Merope Nebula is a diffuse reflection nebula, possibly a supernova remnant, in the Pleiades star cluster
, surrounding the 4th magnitude star Merope
. It was discovered on October 19, 1859 by the German astronomer Wilhelm Tempel
. John Herschel
, in his New General Catalog (NGC), described it as a very faint nebula about the size of the full moon.
The Merope Nebula has an apparent magnitude
starting at 13 and quickly dimming by a factor of about 15, making most of the nebula dimmer than magnitude 16. It is illuminated entirely by the star Merope, which is embedded in the nebula. It contains a bright knot, IC 349
, about half an arcminute wide near Merope. It appears blue in photographs because of the fine carbon dust spread throughout the cloud. Though it was once thought the Pleiades formed from this and surrounding nebulae, it is now known that the Pleiades nebulosity is caused by a chance encounter with the cloud.
A small and unique nebula which is close to Merope was discovered by Edward Emerson Barnard in November 1890. It is naturally very bright but is almost hidden in the radiance of Merope.
Pleiades (star cluster)
In astronomy, the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters , is an open star cluster containing middle-aged hot B-type stars located in the constellation of Taurus. It is among the nearest star clusters to Earth and is the cluster most obvious to the naked eye in the night sky...
, surrounding the 4th magnitude star Merope
Merope (star)
Merope is a star in the constellation Taurus and a member of the Pleiades star cluster. It is approximately 360 light years from Earth.Merope is a blue-white B-type subgiant with a mean apparent magnitude of +4.14...
. It was discovered on October 19, 1859 by the German astronomer Wilhelm Tempel
Ernst Wilhelm Leberecht Tempel
Ernst Wilhelm Leberecht Tempel , normally known as Wilhelm Tempel, was a German astronomer who worked in Marseille until the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, then later moved to Italy....
. John Herschel
John Herschel
Sir John Frederick William Herschel, 1st Baronet KH, FRS ,was an English mathematician, astronomer, chemist, and experimental photographer/inventor, who in some years also did valuable botanical work...
, in his New General Catalog (NGC), described it as a very faint nebula about the size of the full moon.
The Merope Nebula has an apparent magnitude
Apparent magnitude
The apparent magnitude of a celestial body is a measure of its brightness as seen by an observer on Earth, adjusted to the value it would have in the absence of the atmosphere...
starting at 13 and quickly dimming by a factor of about 15, making most of the nebula dimmer than magnitude 16. It is illuminated entirely by the star Merope, which is embedded in the nebula. It contains a bright knot, IC 349
IC 349
IC 349, also known as Barnard's Merope nebula, is a nebula which lies 3500 AUs from the star Merope in the Pleiades cluster.- External links :*...
, about half an arcminute wide near Merope. It appears blue in photographs because of the fine carbon dust spread throughout the cloud. Though it was once thought the Pleiades formed from this and surrounding nebulae, it is now known that the Pleiades nebulosity is caused by a chance encounter with the cloud.
A small and unique nebula which is close to Merope was discovered by Edward Emerson Barnard in November 1890. It is naturally very bright but is almost hidden in the radiance of Merope.
External links