The Eskimo Nebula, NGC 2392, is a planetary nebula in Gemini whose bright inner bubble and fringed outer disc suggest a face framed by a fur-lined hood.
At a glance
| type | nebula |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 5,850 light-years (1.79 kpc) |
| its light left it | 5,850 years ago |
| size in the piece | about 0.65 light-years acrossmodel |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with. Model marks a property of the piece’s galaxy model rather than a measurement.
About Eskimo Nebula
NGC 2392 is a planetary nebula discovered by William Herschel, also known as the Clownface Nebula. Its bright inner shell, blown by a fast wind from the hot central star, looks like a face, and a fainter outer disc fringed with comet-shaped filaments looks like the fur trim of a parka hood.
The structure is a pair of nested shells seen nearly along the nebula’s axis. The comet-like streaks in the outer disc point away from the centre: dense knots of gas shadowing the gas behind them from the star’s radiation and wind. Chandra found hot, X-ray-emitting gas filling the inner bubble, heated by the collision of the fast wind with slower material shed earlier.
What you see in the piece
In the piece it is a small glowing cloud in the winter sky’s direction, above the plane of the disc in Gemini, a point from the Sun until flown to.
Questions
Why is NGC 2392 called the Eskimo Nebula?
Its bright inner shell resembles a face, and the fringed outer disc looks like the fur-lined hood of a parka around it.
How far away is the Eskimo Nebula?
The Eskimo Nebula is 5,850 light-years (1.79 kpc) from the Sun.