| Emission nebula | |
|---|---|
| Planetary nebula | |
Abell 48, imaged by Jerry Macon
| |
| Observation data: J2000.0 epoch | |
| Right ascension | 18h42m 46.921s[1] |
| Declination | −3° 13′ 17.3″[1] |
| Distance | 14,889.41[2] ly |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 17.8[3] |
| Apparent dimensions (V) | 0.7 by 0.7 arcmin |
| Constellation | Aquila |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Radius | 1.05 ly |
| Absolute magnitude (V) | −1.34 |
| Notable features | contains a rare [WN] central star |
| Designations | PK 029-00.1, PN G 029.0+00.4, Abel 36, WR 120-6 (central star), [GKF2010] MN50, IRAS 18401-0316, Gaia DR2 4258557110213184896 |
| See also: Lists of nebulae | |
Abell 48 is a planetary nebula likely located around 14,000 light years away[1] in the constellation of Aquila. It is noteworthy among planetary nebulae for hosting a rare WN-type Wolf-Rayet-type central star, a [WN4]-type star, which was once thought to be a bona-fide Wolf-Rayet star,[4] and received the name WR 120–6.[5] The nebula is made up of two rings surrounding the central star, and is heavily reddened, with an E(B-V) value of 2.14 and a visual extinction of 6.634 magnitudes, which is why it appears so dim.[6]
Assuming a distance of 1.9 kiloparsecs (about 6,200 light years), the nebula would have a diameter of 0.38 parsecs (~1.24 light years), and would be about 6,500 years old.[3] The central star, with an initial mass of approximately 3 solar masses, would have left the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) approximately 9,000 years ago. The central star of this nebula would be about 5,500 times brighter than the Sun, with a surface temperature of around 70,000 Kelvins and a size just under half that of the Sun.[6] However, this may be slightly inaccurate given the different distance suggested by Gaia, which is about 67% larger than the one used in the study to derive the aforementioned properties.[1]
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