Planetary Nebula NGC 6058

Object Description

The planetary nebula NGC 6058 was discovered by Wilhelm Herschel and classified as the 637th object in his Very faint Nebulae class. The true nature of the nebula was not recognized until 1918 by Curtis.

NGC 6058 is about 13'000 light-years away. Its spectrum shows a clear preponderance of O-III emission than would be expected; the doubly ionized oxygen lines are almost four times as strong as H-alpha. The speed of expansion of the nebula envelope, measured in the light of the O-III lines, is 27'500 m/s. The figure on the right shows the planetary nebula in false color representation. A bipolar shape can be clearly seen, which is reminiscent of an apple sliced lengthwise.

NGC 6058
NGC 6058: Planetary nebula in Hercules; 500 mm Cassegrain 5800 mm f/11.4; SBIG STL11K; 38+8+8+8 min LRGB; Bernese Highlands; © 2005 Radek Chromik [32]
NGC 6058
NGC 6058: PN in true and false colours; 500/2500mm-Newton + SBIG ST-6; 90s; Observatory Bülach; © 23. 7. 1996 Stefan Meister
«Strasbourg-ESO Catalogue of Galactic Planetary Nebulae» Acker et al., 1992 [141]
Designations PN G064.6+48.2: NGC 6058, PK 64+48.1, ARO 49, VV 76, VV' 129
Right Ascension (J2000.0) 16h 04m 27s
Declination (J2000.0) +40° 40' 57"
Dimensions 23." (optical)
Radial Velocity +2.7 ± 3.3 km/s
Expansion Velocity 27.5 (O-III) km/s
C-Star Designations AG82 195, CSI +40 -16027, GCRV 9247, PLX 3646
C-Star Magnitude U: 12.37, B: 13.55, V: 13.91
C-Star Spectral Type O(H)
Discoverer CURTIS 1918

Galaxie PGC 57074

About 12' east of the planetary nebula NGC 6058 is the faint elliptical galaxy PGC 57074. It is receding from the center of the Local Group at a speed of about 9700 km/s. The inclination of the axis of rotation to the viewing direction is not known. [134]

«Catalogue of Principal Galaxies» Paturel et al., 1989 [144]
Designations PGC 57074: MCG 7-33-36
Right Ascension (J2000.0) 16h 05m 31.2s
Declination (J2000.0) +40° 41' 57"
Dimensions .5' x .5'
Visual Magnitude 13.5 mag
Radial Velocity (HRV) 9599 km/s

How to find NGC 6058?

NGC 6058 is located in the western part of the constellation Hercules. The location of the PN is relatively prominent. It is located on the southwest side of an equilateral triangle of about 8' on a side formed by three mag 9-10. The PN can best be observed in the months of April to August.

Finder Chart Planetary Nebula NGC 6058
Planetary Nebula NGC 6058 in constellation Hercules. Charts created using SkySafari 6 Pro and STScI Digitized Sky Survey. Limiting magnitudes: Constellation chart ~6.5 mag, DSS2 close-ups ~20 mag. [149, 160]

More Objects Nearby (±15°)

References