An astrophotometric study of the open cluster M 37, or Messier 37, confirmed the existence
An open star cluster is a group of starsformed from the same molecular cloud at about the same time. In such clusters, planetary nebulae are extremely rarely found - a shell of ionized gas that forms around a white dwarf after the "death" of a red giant. The IPHASX J055226.2+323724 nebula was only the third such object.
A contrast image of a planetary nebula obtained from the INT Photometric Survey of the Galactic Northern Plane (IPHAS) data. Image: Vasiliki Fragkou et al., ArXiv
The second surprising feature is agefinds. According to scientists, the planetary nebula formed about 78 thousand years ago. The average lifetime of such objects is about 10 thousand years before recombination, when the gas ceases to be ionized by the radiation of the star and becomes invisible.
Astrophysicists believe that the uniquethe lifespan of a nebula is related to the location of a single star inside an open cluster. The absence of large-scale impacts from nearby objects, scientists believe, provides longer conditions for gas ionization.
Location of the planetary nebula in images from the Photometric Survey of the Galactic Northern Plane INT (IPHAS). Image: Vasiliki Fragkou et al., ArXiv
The cluster Messier 37 is at a distance of 4.5thousand light years from Earth. More than 500 individual stars have been identified within it. It is the brightest and richest cluster in the constellation Aquarius. Its radius is from 10 to 13 light years, and its mass is 1.5 thousand times greater than the sun.
Cover: Messier 37. Source: Tehbel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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