McNeil's Nebula is a
variable nebula discovered January 23, 2004 by Jay McNeil of
Paducah,
Kentucky
Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
. It is illuminated by the star V1647 Ori.
Discovery
McNeil's Nebula is a cometary-type reflection nebula, illuminated by the reddish star V1647 Ori (also catalogued as IRAS 05436-0007) at its southern tip. The nebula did not appear in images taken before September 2003; it was discovered in 2004 by amateur astronomer Jay McNeil using a 3-inch telescope. University of Hawaii researcher Bo Reipurth's preliminary studies have determined that McNeil's Nebula appeared when V1647 Ori, a pre-main sequence star, experienced an outburst called a FU Orionis or EX Lupii type event. Most stars are believed to undergo such events, though they are rarely observed.
Earlier images
The nebula has been identified on images taken by Evered Kreimer in October 1966, but not in various other images taken between 1951 and 1991. The nebula appears therefore to be very variable in luminosity, and is a reflection nebula illuminated by a variable star of some kind, or with the star's light being variably obscured for some reason.
McNeil's Nebula near M78
The nebula was not observed after 2004 until 2008, when it reappeared once more.
2018 disappearance
In November 2018 the Sky & Telescope
''Sky & Telescope'' (''S&T'') is a monthly magazine covering all aspects of amateur and professional astronomy, including what to see in the sky tonight and new findings in astronomy. Other topics covered include:
*observing guides for planets, ...
website reported that the nebula had disappeared. On November 5, an observer using the 500-mm Gemini telescope at the Iowa Robotic Observatory reported its disappearance. Another observer using a 30-inch Dobsonian telescope
A Dobsonian telescope is an altazimuth mount, altazimuth-mounted Newtonian telescope design popularized by John Dobson (amateur astronomer), John Dobson in 1965 and credited with vastly increasing the size of telescopes available to amateur astro ...
on November 3 also failed to detect the nebula.
References
External links
CNN article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcneil's Nebula
Reflection nebulae
Orion molecular cloud complex
Protostars
Orion (constellation)