Red Spider Nebula

planetary nebula in the constellation Sagittarius

Key facts

Right ascension: 18 05 13.0977
Declination: −19 ° 50 ′ 34.713 ″
Distance: ~ 5000 ly
Apparent dimensions v: 0.6′ × 0.3′
Constellation: Sagittarius
Radius: 1.1 pc
Absolute magnitude v: -
Notable features: hot white dwarf
Designations: ESO 590-PN 001, 2MASS J18051309-1950347 , NGC 6537

via Wikipedia infobox

Article

The Red Spider Nebula (also catalogued as NGC 6537) is a planetary nebula located near the heart of the Milky Way, in the northwest of the constellation Sagittarius. It was discovered by Edward Charles Pickering on 15 July 1882.

The nebula has a prominent two-lobed shape, possibly due to a binary companion or magnetic fields and has an S-shaped symmetry of the lobes – the lobes opposite each other appear similar. This is believed to be due to the presence of a companion to the central white dwarf. However, the gas walls of the two lobed structures are not at all smooth, but rather are rippled in a complex way.