NGC
NGC may refer to:
Companies
* NGC Corporation, the name of US electric company Dynegy, Inc. from 1995 to 1998
* National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago, a state-owned natural gas company in Trinidad and Tobago
* National Grid plc, a former nam ...
3199 is an
emission nebula
An emission nebula is a nebula formed of ionized gases that emit light of various wavelengths. The most common source of ionization is high-energy ultraviolet photons emitted from a nearby hot star. Among the several different types of emission n ...
in the
constellation
A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object.
The first constellati ...
Carina
Carina may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Carina, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane
* Carina Heights, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane
* Carina, Victoria, a locality in Mildura
Serbia
* Carina, Osečina, a village in the Kolubara District
...
. It is commonly known as the Banana Nebula or Carina's Smile. The object was discovered in 1826 by the Scottish astronomer
James Dunlop
James Dunlop FRSE (31 October 1793 – 22 September 1848) was a Scottish astronomer, noted for his work in Australia. He was employed by Sir Thomas Brisbane to work as astronomer's assistant at his private observatory, once located at Param ...
. It was thought to be the
bow shock
In astrophysics, bow shocks are shock waves in regions where the conditions of density and pressure change dramatically due to blowing stellar wind. Bow shock occurs when the magnetosphere of an astrophysical object interacts with the nearby fl ...
around the central star, WR 18, an especially hot and luminous
Wolf–Rayet star
Wolf–Rayet stars, often abbreviated as WR stars, are a rare heterogeneous set of stars with unusual spectroscopy, spectra showing prominent broad emission lines of ionised helium and highly ionised nitrogen or carbon. The spectra indicate very ...
; however, it was determined that the nebula formed due to the composition of local space, not because of the star's movement.
See also
*
List of NGC objects
The following is a list of NGC objects, that is objects listed in the New General Catalogue (NGC). It is one of the largest comprehensive astronomical catalogues for deep sky objects such as star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies.
*List of NGC object ...