Wikipedia

List of largest nebulae

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.

NGC 604, one of largest nebulae (H II region) is located in the Triangulum Galaxy (viewed by the Hubble Space Telescope).

Caveats

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Nebulae 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

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List of the largest nebulae
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]
  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.
  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
  Helix Nebula 5.74 ly (1.76 pc)[55] Emission nebula
  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

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Notes

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  1. ^ distance × sin( diameter_angle ) = 1,895 ly
  2. ^ distance × sin( diameter_angle ) = 1,520 ly
  3. ^ 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

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  8. ^ 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.
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  30. ^ NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: Deep Field: The Heart Nebula (13 December 2023)
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  45. ^ NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: Western Veil Nebula without Stars (18 October 2023)
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Sources

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