Mz 1
Planetary nebula in the constellation Norma
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Mz 1 (Menzel 1), is a bipolar planetary nebula (PN) in the constellation Norma.
| Emission nebula | |
|---|---|
| Planetary nebula | |
| |
| Observation data: J2000 epoch | |
| Right ascension | 15h 34m 17.002s[1] |
| Declination | −59° 09′ 09.05″[1] |
| Distance | 3,400 ± 500 ly (1,050 ± 150 pc)[2] ly |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 12.0[3] |
| Apparent dimensions (V) | 76″[2] × 23″[3] |
| Constellation | Norma |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Radius | 0.63 ± 0.09 ly[a] ly |
| Absolute magnitude (V) | 1.9 ± 0.3[b] |
| Designations | ESO 135-11[1] |
Characteristics
Menzel 1 is a bright planetary nebula that has a prominent central ring of enhanced emission. One model of its structure is a three-dimensional hour-glass shape with a smoothly decreasing density starting from the waist or equator as measured outwardly to the poles. It is radially expanding at a rate of about 23 km/s and estimated to be around 4,500 to 10,000 years old and has its polar axis oriented at an angle of around 40° from the plane of the sky. Its central star is estimated to have a mass of 0.63 ± 0.05 M☉. In 1992 Schwarz, Corradi, & Melnick published narrow band images of Mz 1 in Hα and [OIII].[4] H2 emission was observed in Mz 1 by Webster, Payne, Storey, Dopita (1988). However, despite its relative brightness, Mz 1 has only been studied in a few papers (Monteiro et al. 2005).
History
Mz 1 was discovered by Donald Howard Menzel in 1922. (Menzel 1922)