Planetary Nebula BV 5-2
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 5-2, BV 5-2, or also sometimes just BV 2. The other ones on this list were BV 5-1 and BV 5-3. [548]
In the late 1950-ies the American astronomer Stewart Sharpless discovered this nebula on the 48 inch Schmidt telescope photo plates of the «Palomar Observatory Sky Survey». He misidentified it as H-II region and listed it as number 179 (official designation Sh2-179) in his 1959 published catalogue of 313 H-II regions. [310]
Physical Properties
| Designations | PN G121.6-00.0: BV 5-2, PK 121+00.1, ARO 201, Sh 2-179 |
| Right Ascension (J2000.0) | 00h 40m 22s |
| Declination (J2000.0) | +62° 51' 17" |
| Dimensions | 40." : (optical) |
| Radial Velocity | -39.0 km/s ± 25.0 km/s |
| Discoverer | BOHM-VITENSE 1956 |
Finder Chart
The planetary nebula Böhm-Vitense 5-2 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.
