Reflection Nebula Kr 2-1
History
This nebula was discovered by A. Krasnogorskaya and published as Kr 2-1 in 1962. [423] Originally it was considered a planetary nebula, which is why it was recorded in 1967 by the two Czech astronomers Luboš Perek and Luboš Kohoutek under the designation PK 149-1.1. [146] In the following year the nebula was described by Kromov and Kohoutek as «a very washed out and irregular internal structure» and that there was «no certainty whether it was an emission nebula». [391] In 1977 it was recognized that the nebula does not fit the morphology of planetary nebulae as a possible reflection nebula. [393] This was also confirmed in 1982 in a study of CO molecular clouds, where strong CO emissions were also measured. [425]
Physical Properties
A distance estimate for this reflection nebula, which is listed as GN 03.47.9 in SIMBAD, is hard to find. However, the star (Gaia EDR3 251340116071393792) at the optical center of the nebula shows a parallax of 0.8337 ± 0.0401 milliarcseconds (mas) as measured by the Gaia probe, corresponding to a distance of roughly 4'000 light-years. [147] The light reflected by the nebula likely originates from this star. In the image shown in Fig. 1, a dark molecular cloud can also be seen surrounding the reflection nebula.
| Name | GN 03.47.9 |
| Object Type | Reflection Nebula |
| Right Ascension (J2000.0) | 03h 51m 35s |
| Declination (J2000.0) | +51° 30' 00" |
| Identifiers | BFS 32; GN 03.47.9; IRAS 03478+5121; PK 149-01 1; PN ARO 210; PN Kr 2-1 |
Finder Chart
The reflection nebula Kr 2-1 is located in the constellation Perseus. The best observation time is July to April.
