Planetary Nebula BV 5-1
History
In 1956 the German-American astronomer Erika Böhm-Vitense discovered three new planetary nebulae during a study of extragalactic nebulae at Lick Observatory. This nebula here was the first listed in table V of her publication, hence the designations Böhm Vitense 5-1, BV 5-1, or also sometimes just BV 1. The other ones on this list were BV 5-2 and BV 5-3. [548]
Physical Properties
BV 5-1 is an odd looking object, not at all looking like an ordinary planetary nebula. It shows a knotty structure along a central bar, the major axis, which appears to be optical thick. This molecular ring is seen edge-on. The nebula is highly enriched in nitrogen and helium, powered by an exceeingly hot star with a temperature between 170'000 K and 236'000 K. Distance is estimated to 2100 pc. It is a relatively evolved nebula with a kinematic age of approximately 24'000 years. [549, 550] According to SkySafari 6 the visual magnitude is 15.69 mag. [149]
| Designations | PN G119.3+00.3: BV 5-1, PK 119+00.1, ARO 199 |
| Right Ascension (J2000.0) | 00h 19m 59s |
| Declination (J2000.0) | +62° 59' 01" |
| Dimensions | 18." : (optical) |
| Radial Velocity | -72.2 ± 4.2 km/s |
| Expansion Velocity | 11.0 (N-II) km/s |
| C-Star Magnitude | V: 22.3 |
| Discoverer | BOHM-VITENSE 1956 |
Finder Chart
The planetary nebula Böhm-Vitense 5-1 can be found in the constellation Cassiopeia. The object is circumpolar, but from July to January it is highest in the sky and best for observing.
