Ghost of Jupiter (NGC 3242)
A bright planetary nebula in Hydra, often showing a bluish-green hue and a visible central star. Its apparent size and brightness in a small telescope can resemble the planet Jupiter, hence the name.
Planetary nebula in Hydra. Magnitude 8.6.
Can you see it from Guyana?
From Georgetown (6.8° N) it climbs to 64° above the southern horizon at its highest; from Lethem (3.4° N), to 68° above the southern horizon. It is highest at midnight on the night of 24 Feb, in the middle of its season. The page works out tonight's rise, highest point and set for both towns in Guyana time (UTC-4), and where the Moon is.
What you'll see
- Your eyes: Not visible to the eye.
- 10x50 binoculars: Looks like a faint star; it needs a telescope.
- A small telescope (80 to 100 mm): A small bright disc at 100x or more, often blue-green.
- A camera: Tiny on camera: it needs 2,000 mm or more of focal length on a tracking mount.
How big, how bright, how far
- Size on the sky: 25″, 1/75 of the Moon's width (the Moon is about 31′ wide).
- Brightness: magnitude 8.6. Fainter than the faintest stars in Georgetown (4.3) and Lethem (6.0): binoculars or a telescope.
- Distance: 1,400 light-years. The light reaching your eye left it about 1,400 years ago, around the year 630 (the distance is uncertain).
Apparent size from OpenNGC (Mattia Verga), CC-BY-SA-4.0.
What it is made of
- Type
- Planetary Nebula
- Distance
- Approx. 1,400 Lightyears (uncertain)
- True size
- Approx. 0.7 Lightyears diameter (inner shell)
- Ionized Oxygen (OIII): Dominant blue-green emission
- Ionized Hydrogen (H-alpha): Fainter reddish halo
- Central White Dwarf: Hot remnant star
More deep-sky objects: Coalsack Nebula · Eskimo Nebula (NGC 2392 / Clown Face Nebula) · M78 (Reflection Nebula) · Horsehead Nebula (Barnard 33) · Flame Nebula (NGC 2024) · Owl Nebula (M97)