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Below is a list of the largest known nebulae so far discovered, ordered by actual diameter. This list is prone to change because of inconsistencies between studies, the great distances of nebulae from our stellar neighborhood, and the constant refinement of technology and engineering.
Caveats
editNebulae have no standardized boundaries, so the measurements are subject to revision. Furthermore, scientists are still defining the features and parameters of nebulae. Because of these rapid developments and adjustments, this list may be unreliable.
List
edit| Image | Nebula | Maximum dimension (in light-years/parsecs) |
Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
NGC 262 Halo Cloud | 1,300,000 ly (400,000 pc)[1] | H I region | Spiral nebula surrounding NGC 262, which is one of the largest known galaxies. |
|
Leo Ring | 650,000 ly (200,000 pc)[2] | HVC | A large ring of cold gas that formed from a collision of two galaxies.[3] |
|
Magellanic Stream | 600,000 ly (180,000 pc)[4] | complex of HVCs | Connects the Large and Small Magellanic clouds; extends across 180° of the sky. |
|
Lyman-alpha blob 1 | 300,000 ly (92,000 pc)[5] | LαB | Largest blob in the LAB Giant Concentration[citation needed] |
|
Himiko Gas Cloud | 55,000 ly (17,000 pc)[6] | Intergalactic cloud (possible LαB) |
One of the most massive lyman-alpha blobs known |
| HVC 127-41-330 | 20,000 ly (6,100 pc)[7] | HVC | ||
|
Smith's Cloud | 9,800 ly (3,000 pc)[8] | HVC | Extends about 20° of the sky |
|
Tarantula Nebula | 1,895 ly (581 pc)[9][a] | H II region | Most active starburst region in the Local Group |
|
|
NGC 604 | 1,520 ly (470 pc)[10][11][b] | H II region | Largest H II region located in the Triangulum Galaxy |
|
N44 | 1,000 ly (310 pc)[12] | Emission nebula | Contains a 250 light year wide superbubble that was probably formed from stellar winds.[13] |
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|
N11 | 1,000 ly (310 pc)[14] | H II region | N11 is the second largest star formation region in the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy. |
|
NGC 2404 | 940 ly (290 pc) | H II region | Largest H II region located in the spiral galaxy NGC 2403 |
|
NGC 595 | 880 ly (270 pc)[15] | H II region | Contains massive stars that have strong stellar winds. |
|
Ring Nebula (NGC 6822) | 838 ly (257 pc) | H II region | The Ring Nebula is located in the lower right of the image |
|
Gum Nebula | 809–950 ly (248–291 pc)[16][17] | Emission nebula | Extends about 36° of the sky |
|
|
Bubble Nebula (NGC 6822) | 758 ly (232 pc)[18][19][20] | H II region | The Bubble Nebula is located in the upper left of the image |
|
NGC 6188 | 600 ly (180 pc)[21] | Emission nebula | |
|
NGC 592 | 580 ly (180 pc)[22][23] | H II region | Located in the Triangulum Galaxy |
| Sh2-310 | 531–681 ly (163–209 pc)[24][c] | H II region | Nebula surrounding VY Canis Majoris, which is one of largest known stars. | |
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|
Carina Nebula | 460 ly (140 pc)[25] | H II region | Nearest giant H II region to Earth |
|
Dragonfish Nebula | 450 ly (140 pc)[26] | Emission nebula | |
|
N119 | 430–570 ly (131–175 pc)[27] | H II region | Peculiar S-shape |
|
RCW 49 | 350 ly (110 pc)[28] | H II region | |
|
Soul Nebula | 330 ly (100 pc)[29] | H II region | |
|
Heart Nebula | 330 ly (100 pc)[30] | H II region | Has been named the “Heart nebula” because of its resemblance to a human heart. |
|
Henize 70 (N70 or DEM L301)[31] | 300 ly (92 pc)[32] | H II region | The N 70 Nebula, in the Large Magellanic Cloud has a shell structure and is really a bubble in space. It is a "Super Bubble". |
|
Barnard's Loop | 300 ly (92 pc)[33][34] | H II region | Supernova over the last 4 million years probably carved cavities in gas clouds forming the semi circle shape of Barnard’s loop. |
|
Sh2-54 | 252 ly (77 pc)[35][36] | H II region | |
|
Prawn Nebula | 250 ly (77 pc)[37] | H II region | |
|
Simeis 147 | 160 ly (49 pc)[38] | Supernova remnant | |
|
NGC 7822 | 150 ly (46 pc)[39] | Emission nebula | |
|
IC 2944 | 142 ly (44 pc)[40][41] | Emission nebula | |
|
Eagle Nebula | 140 ly (43 pc)[42] | H II region | Part of another diffuse nebula IC 4703. |
|
Rosette Nebula | 130 ly (40 pc)[43] | H II region | Only 36 stars were known to be in this nebula but the Chandra telescope increased the number of known stars to 160. |
|
Lagoon Nebula | 110 ly (34 pc)[44] | H II region | |
|
Veil Nebula | 100–130 ly (31–40 pc)[45] | Supernova remnant | Located in the Cygnus Loop |
|
NGC 3576 | 100 ly (31 pc)[46] | Emission nebula | |
|
N41 | 100 ly (31 pc)[47] | Emission nebula | |
| The following well-known nebulae are listed for the purpose of comparison. | ||||
|
Orion Nebula | 20 ly (6.132 pc)[48] | Diffuse Nebula | The closest major star formation region to Earth.[49] |
|
Crab Nebula | 11 ly (3.4 pc)[50] | Supernova remnant | The remnant of a supernova that occurred in 1054 AD.[51] |
|
Bubble Nebula | 6[52]-10[53][54] ly (1.84-3.066 pc) | Emission nebula | |
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|
Helix Nebula | 5.74 ly (1.76 pc)[55] | Emission nebula | |
.png)
|
Eightburst Nebula | 0.8 ly (0.2453 pc)[56] | Emission nebula | |
|
Homunculus Nebula | 0.58 ly (0.1778 pc) [57] | Emission nebula | Surrounds the star system Eta Carinae. |
|
Stingray Nebula | 0.16 ly (0.049 pc)[58] | Emission nebula | One of the smallest nebulae. |
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ distance × sin( diameter_angle ) = 1,895 ly
- ^ distance × sin( diameter_angle ) = 1,520 ly
- ^ Those measurements are based on an apparent diameter of 480 arcminutes (') plus an assumed distance of 1.5 kpc and the current distance of VY CMa which is about 1.17 kpc as the nebula is sometimes found to have the same distance as VY CMa.
References
edit- ^ "The New York Times". Distant galaxy found to be largest known. 1987-03-13. Archived from the original on 2019-05-17. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
- ^ Léo Michel-Dansa; Pierre-Alain Duc (2010). "The mysterious Leo giant gas ring explained by a billion year old collision between two galaxies". Canada France Hawaii Telescope. Archived from the original on 2013-10-10. Retrieved 2016-12-18.
- ^ "News CFHT - Leo Ring is a remnant of an old galaxy collision". www.cfht.hawaii.edu. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
- ^ "Magellanic Stream". COSMOS - The SAO Encyclopedia of Astronomy. Swinburne University of Technology. Archived from the original on October 21, 2018. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
- ^ "Giant Space Blob Glows from Within". ESO Press Release. 17 August 2011. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
- ^ Hsu, Jeremy (2009-04-22). "Giant Mystery Blob Discovered Near Dawn of Time". SPACE.com. Archived from the original on 2009-04-23. Retrieved 2009-04-24.
- ^ Josh Simon (Spring 2005). Dark Matter in Dwarf Galaxies: Observational Tests of the Cold Dark Matter Paradigm on Small Scales (PDF) (PhD thesis). University of California, Berkeley. Bibcode:2005PhDT.........2S. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 13, 2006.
- ^ Lockman, Felix J.; Benjamin, Robert A.; Heroux, A. J.; Langston, Glen I. (May 2008). "The Smith Cloud: A High-Velocity Cloud Colliding with the Milky Way". The Astrophysical Journal. 679 (1): L21. arXiv:0804.4155. Bibcode:2008ApJ...679L..21L. doi:10.1086/588838. S2CID 118393177.
- ^ "Results for Tarantula Nebula". SEDS Students for the Exploration and Development of Space. Archived from the original on 2011-10-08. Retrieved 2007-05-08.
30 Doradus .. 49 kpc +- 3 kpc
- ^ Barba, Rodolfo (2004). "An in-depth analysis of a prototypical giant H II region: NGC 604". HST Proposal ID #10419: 10419. Bibcode:2004hst..prop10419B.
- ^ "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for NGC 604. Archived from the original on 2011-08-14. Retrieved 2006-09-03.
- ^ "Roses in the Southern Sky". ESO. 3 November 2003. Archived from the original on 3 February 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
- ^ "Mysterious "Superbubble" Hollows Out Nebula in New Hubble Image - NASA Science". science.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
- ^ "N11 complex in LMC". astronomy and observation. Archived from the original on 11 November 2017. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
- ^ "NGC 595: A Great Diffuse Nebula in M33". Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 13 Jan 2013.
- ^ Sushch, I.; Hnatyk, B.; Neronov, A. (2011). "Modeling of the Vela complex including the Vela supernova remnant, the binary system γ2 Velorum, and the Gum nebula". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 525: A154. arXiv:1011.1177. Bibcode:2011A&A...525A.154S. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201015346. S2CID 55224501.
- ^ "result for Gum 12". Galaxy Map. Archived from the original on 2009-04-11. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
- ^ Karachentsev et al. 2004
- ^ Karachentsev & Kashibadze 2006
- ^ Cannon et al. 2006
- ^ NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: NGC 6188: Dragons of Ara (7 June 2022)
- ^ "NGC 592 NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database Results". ned.ipac.caltech.edu. Archived from the original on 2018-10-31. Retrieved 2018-10-30.
- ^ "Site of Professor C. Seligman: NGC 550 - 599". cseligman.com. Archived from the original on 2015-09-10. Retrieved 2018-10-31.
- ^ Sharpless, Stewart (1959). "A Catalogue of H II Regions". The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 4: 257. Bibcode:1959ApJS....4..257S. doi:10.1086/190049.
- ^ "NGC 3372 - The Eta Carinae Nebula". Atlas of the Universe. Archived from the original on 2013-05-12. Retrieved 2013-10-01.
- ^ "Dragonfish Coming at You in Infrared". NASA. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
- ^ Ambrocio-Cruz, P.; Rosado, M.; Laval, A.; Le Coarer, E.; Russeil, D.; Amram, P. (July 22, 2008). "Kinematic field of the S-shaped nebula N119 in the LMC" (PDF). Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica. 44: 355. Bibcode:2008RMxAA..44..355A.
- ^ NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: Cosmic Construction Zone RCW 49 (3 June 2004)
- ^ NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: Deep Field: W5: The Soul Nebula (14 March 2023)
- ^ NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: Deep Field: The Heart Nebula (13 December 2023)
- ^ "N70. HENIZE 70 – Astrodrudis". Archived from the original on 2019-05-17. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
- ^ "N70 Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud". www.eso.org. Archived from the original on 15 November 2018. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
- ^ Wilson, B.A.; Dame, T.M.; Masheder, M.R.W.; Thaddeus, P. (2005). "A uniform CO survey of the molecular clouds in Orion and Monoceros". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 430 (2): 523–539. arXiv:astro-ph/0411089. Bibcode:2005A&A...430..523W. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20035943. S2CID 13916583. Archived from the original on 2018-12-12. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
- ^ O'Dell, C.R.; Ferland, G.J.; Porter, R.L.; van Hoof, P.A.M. (2011). "Physical Conditions in Barnard's Loop, Components of the Orion-eridanus Bubble, and Implications for the Warm Ionized Medium Component of the Interstellar Medium". The Astrophysical Journal. 733 (1): 9. arXiv:1103.2789. Bibcode:2011ApJ...733....9O. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/733/1/9. S2CID 5019523.
- ^ Sharpless, Stewart (December 1959). "A Catalogue of H II Regions". Astrophysical Journal Supplement. 4: 257. Bibcode:1959ApJS....4..257S. doi:10.1086/190049.
- ^ Reipurth, B. (December 2008). "The Young Cluster NGC 6604 and the Serpens OB2 Association". Handbook of Star Forming Regions, Volume II: The Southern Sky. 5: 590. Bibcode:2008hsf2.book..590R.
- ^ "Cosmic Recycling". Archived from the original on 7 September 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
- ^ NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: Supernova Remnant Simeis 147 (13 January 2022)
- ^ Seligman, Courtney. "New General Catalogue objects: NGC 7800 - 7840". cseligman.com. Archived from the original on 19 February 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
- ^ Thackeray, A. D.; Wesselink, A. J. (1965). "A photometric and spectroscopic study of the cluster IC 2944". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 131: 121–135. Bibcode:1965MNRAS.131..121T. doi:10.1093/mnras/131.1.121.
- ^ SEDS: IC 2944
- ^ "Messier 16". Archived from the original on 2018-10-04. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
- ^ NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: The Rosette Nebula (14 February 2012)
- ^ NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: The Lagoon Nebula without Stars (8 August 2022)
- ^ NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: Western Veil Nebula without Stars (18 October 2023)
- ^ NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: NGC 3576: The Statue of Liberty Nebula (28 September 2016)
- ^ Henize, Karl G. (September 1956). "Catalogues of Hα-emission Stars and Nebulae in the Magellanic Clouds". The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 2: 315. Bibcode:1956ApJS....2..315H. doi:10.1086/190025. ISSN 0067-0049. S2CID 122024157.
- ^ Hillenbrand, Lynne A.; Hartmann, Lee W. (1998-01-10). "A Preliminary Study of the Orion Nebula Cluster Structure and Dynamics". The Astrophysical Journal. 492 (2): 540–553. Bibcode:1998ApJ...492..540H. doi:10.1086/305076. ISSN 0004-637X. S2CID 43038127.
- ^ "Messier 42 (The Orion Nebula) - NASA Science". science.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
- ^ Hester, J. Jeff (2008-09-01). "The Crab Nebula: An Astrophysical Chimera". Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics. 46 (1): 127–155. Bibcode:2008ARA&A..46..127H. doi:10.1146/annurev.astro.45.051806.110608. ISSN 0066-4146.
- ^ "Messier 1 (The Crab Nebula) - NASA Science". science.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
- ^ HubbleSite 2000.
- ^ Nemiroff & Bonnell 2005.
- ^ Nemiroff & Bonnell 2006.
- ^ O'Dell, C. R.; McCullough, Peter R.; Meixner, Margaret (2004). "Unraveling the Helix Nebula: Its Structure and Knots". The Astronomical Journal. 128 (5): 2339–2356. arXiv:astro-ph/0407556. Bibcode:2004AJ....128.2339O. doi:10.1086/424621. S2CID 119507454.
- ^ Belland, Brent; Kirby, Evan; Boylan-Kolchin, Michael; Wheeler, Coral (2020-10-26). "NGC 6822 as a Probe of Dwarf Galactic Evolution". The Astrophysical Journal. 903 (1): 10. arXiv:2009.04555. Bibcode:2020ApJ...903...10B. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/abb5f4. ISSN 1538-4357.
- ^ Abraham, Zulema; Falceta-Gonçalves, Diego; Beaklini, Pedro P. B. (2014). "Η Carinae Baby Homunculus Uncovered by A/km/kmLMA". The Astrophysical Journal. 791 (2): 95. arXiv:1406.6297. Bibcode:2014ApJ...791...95A. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/791/2/95. S2CID 62893264.
- ^ Bobrowsky, M. (1994). "Narrowband HST imagery of the young planetary nebula Henize 1357". The Astrophysical Journal. 426: L47–L50. Bibcode:1994ApJ...426L..47B. doi:10.1086/187336.
Sources
edit- Cannon, John M.; Walter, Fabian; Armus, Lee; Bendo, George J.; Calzetti, Daniela; Draine, Bruce T.; Engelbracht, Charles W.; Helou, George; et al. (December 2006), "The Nature of Infrared Emission in the Local Group Dwarf Galaxy NGC 6822 as Revealed by Spitzer", The Astrophysical Journal, vol. 652, no. 2, pp. 1170–1187, arXiv:astro-ph/0608249, Bibcode:2006ApJ...652.1170C, doi:10.1086/508341, S2CID 10287455
- HubbleSite (2000). "An Expanding Bubble in Space".
- Karachentsev, I. D.; Karachentseva, V. E.; Hutchmeier, W. K.; Makarov, D. I. (April 2004), "A Catalog of Neighboring Galaxies", Astronomical Journal, vol. 127, no. 4, pp. 2031–2068, Bibcode:2004AJ....127.2031K, doi:10.1086/382905
- Karachentsev, I. D.; Kashibadze, O. G. (January 2006), "Masses of the local group and of the M81 group estimated from distortions in the local velocity field", Astrophysics, vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 3–18, Bibcode:2006Ap.....49....3K, doi:10.1007/s10511-006-0002-6, S2CID 120973010
- Nemiroff, R.; Bonnell, J., eds. (November 7, 2005). "NGC 7635: The Bubble Nebula". Astronomy Picture of the Day. NASA.
- Nemiroff, R.; Bonnell, J., eds. (October 18, 2006). "NGC 7635: The Bubble". Astronomy Picture of the Day. NASA.