TheCat's Eye Nebula (also known asNGC 6543 andCaldwell 6) is aplanetary nebula in the northern constellation ofDraco, discovered byWilliam Herschel on February 15, 1786. It was the first planetary nebula whosespectrum was investigated by the Englishamateur astronomerWilliam Huggins, demonstrating that planetary nebulae were gaseous and not stellar in nature. Structurally, the object has had high-resolution images by theHubble Space Telescope revealing knots, jets, bubbles and complex arcs, being illuminated by the central hotplanetary nebula nucleus (PNN).[3]It is a well-studied object that has been observed fromradio toX-raywavelengths. At the centre of the Cat's Eye Nebula is a dyingWolf–Rayet star, the sort of which can be seen in the Webb Telescope's image ofWR 124. The Cat's Eye Nebula's central star shines atmagnitude +11.4.Hubble Space Telescope images show a sort of dart board pattern of concentric rings emanating outwards from the centre.
NGC 6543 is a highnortherndeclination deep-sky object. It has the combinedmagnitude of 8.1, with highsurface brightness. Its small bright inner nebula subtends an average of 16.1arcsec, with the outer prominent condensations about 25 arcsec.[4] Deep images reveal an extendedhalo about 300 arcsec or 5arcminutes across,[5] that was once ejected by the centralprogenitor star during itsred giant phase.
NGC 6543 is 4.4 minutes of arc from the current position of thenorth ecliptic pole, less than1⁄10 of the 45 arcminutes betweenPolaris and the current location of the Earth's northernaxis of rotation. It is a convenient and accurate marker for the axis of rotation of the Earth'secliptic, around which thecelestial North Pole rotates. It is also a good marker for the nearby"invariable" axis of theSolar System, which is the center of the circles whichevery planet's north pole, and the north pole of every planet's orbit, make in the sky. Since motion in the sky of the ecliptic pole is very slow compared to the motion of the Earth's north pole, its position as an ecliptic pole station marker is essentially permanent on the timescale of human history, as opposed to thepole star, which changes every few thousand years.
Observations show the bright nebulosity has temperatures between7000 and9000 K, whose densities average of about5000 particles per cubic centimetre.[6] Its outer halo has the higher temperature around15,000 K, but is of much lower density.[7] Velocity of the faststellar wind is about1900 km/s, wherespectroscopic analysis shows the current rate of mass loss averages3.2×10−7 solar masses per year, equivalent to twenty trilliontons per second (20 Eg/s).[6]
An optical image of the nebula's surrounding halo
Surface temperature for the central PNN is about80,000 K, being 10,000 times as luminous as the sun.Stellar classification is O7 + [WR]-type star.[6] Calculations suggest the PNN is over onesolar mass, from a theoretical initial 5 solar masses.[8] The centralWolf–Rayet star has a radius of 0.65 R☉ (452,000 km).[9] The Cat's Eye Nebula, given in some sources, lies about three thousand light-years from Earth.[10]
The Cat's Eye was the first planetary nebula to be observed with aspectroscope byWilliam Huggins on August 29, 1864.[11][12] Huggins' observations revealed that the nebula's spectrum was non-continuous and made of a few bright emission lines, first indication that planetary nebulae consist of tenuous ionised gas. Spectroscopic observations at these wavelengths are used in abundance determinations,[13] while images at these wavelengths have been used to reveal the intricate structure of the nebula.[14]
Observations of NGC 6543 atfar-infrared wavelengths (about 60 μm) reveal the presence ofstellar dust at low temperatures. The dust is believed to have formed during the last phases of the progenitor star's life. It absorbs light from the central star and re-radiates it atinfrared wavelengths. The spectrum of the infrared dust emission implies that the dust temperature is about 85 K, while the mass of the dust is estimated at6.4×10−4 solar masses.[15]
Infrared emission also reveals the presence ofun-ionised material such asmolecular hydrogen (H2) andargon. In many planetary nebulae, molecular emission is greatest at larger distances from the star, where more material is un-ionised, but molecular hydrogen emission in NGC 6543 seems to be bright at the inner edge of its outer halo. This may be due toshock waves exciting the H2 as ejecta moving at different speeds collide. The overall appearance of the Cat's Eye Nebula in infrared (wavelengths 2–8 μm) is similar in visible light.[16]
The Hubble Space Telescope image produced here is in false colour, designed to highlight regions of high and lowionisation. Three images were taken, in filters isolating the light emitted by singly ionisedhydrogen at 656.3 nm, singly ionisednitrogen at 658.4 nm and doubly ionisedoxygen at 500.7 nm. The images were combined as red, green and blue channels respectively, although their true colours are red, red and green. The image reveals two "caps" of less ionised material at the edge of the nebula.[17]
In 2001, observations atX-ray wavelengths by theChandra X-ray Observatory revealed the presence of extremely hot gas within NGC 6543 with the temperature of1.7×106 K.[18] It is thought that the very hot gas results from the violent interaction of a fast stellar wind with material previously ejected. This interaction has hollowed out the inner bubble of the nebula.[14] Chandra observations have also revealed apoint source at the position of the central star. The spectrum of this source extends to the hard part of the X-ray spectrum, to 0.5–1.0 keV. A star with thephotospheric temperature of about100,000 K would not be expected to emit strongly in hard X-rays, and so their presence is something of a mystery. It may suggest the presence of a high temperatureaccretion disk within abinary star system.[19] The hard X-ray data remain intriguing more than ten years later: the Cat's Eye was included in a 2012 Chandra survey of 21 central stars of planetary nebulae (CSPNe) in thesolar neighborhood, which found: "All but one of the X-ray point sources detected at CSPNe display X-ray spectra that are harder than expected from hot (~100,000 K) central star photospheres, possibly indicating a high frequency of binary companions to CSPNe. Other potential explanations include self-shocking winds or PN mass fallback."[20]
Planetary nebulae distances like NGC 6543 are generally very inaccurate and not well known.[21] Some recent Hubble Space Telescope observations of NGC 6543 taken several years apart determine its distance from the angular expansion rate of 3.457 milliarcseconds per year. Assuming a line of sight expansion velocity of 16.4 km·s−1, this implies that NGC 6543's distance is1001±269parsecs (3×1019 k or3300light-years) away from Earth.[22] Several other distance references, like what is quoted inSIMBAD in 2014 based on Stanghellini, L., et al. (2008) suggest the distance is1623 parsecs (5300 light-years).[23]
The angular expansion of the nebula can also be used to estimate its age. If it has been expanding at a constant rate of 10 milliarcseconds a year, then it would take1000±260 years to reach a diameter of 20 arcseconds. This may be an upper limit to the age, because ejected material will be slowed when it encounters material ejected from the star at earlier stages of its evolution, and theinterstellar medium.[22]
Image of NGC 6543 processed to reveal the concentric rings surrounding the inner core. Also visible are the linear structures, possibly caused by precessing jets from a binary central star system.
Like most astronomical objects, NGC 6543 consists mostly ofhydrogen andhelium, with heavier elements present in small quantities. The exact composition may be determined by spectroscopic studies. Abundances are generally expressed relative to hydrogen, the most abundant element.[7]
Different studies generally find varying values for elemental abundances. This is often becausespectrographs attached to telescopes do not collect all the light from objects being observed, instead gathering light from a slit or smallaperture. Therefore, different observations may sample different parts of the nebula.
However, results for NGC 6543 broadly agree that, relative to hydrogen, the helium abundance is about 0.12,carbon andnitrogen abundances are both about3×10−4, and theoxygen abundance is about7×10−4.[13] These are fairly typical abundances for planetary nebulae, with the carbon, nitrogen and oxygen abundances all larger than the values found for the sun, due to the effects ofnucleosynthesis enriching the star's atmosphere in heavy elements before it is ejected as a planetary nebula.[24]
Deep spectroscopic analysis of NGC 6543 may indicate that the nebula contains a small amount of material which is highly enriched in heavy elements; this is discussed below.[13]
The Cat's Eye Nebula is structurally a very complex nebula, and the mechanism or mechanisms that have given rise to its complicated morphology are not well understood.[14] The central bright part of the nebula consists of the inner elongated bubble (inner ellipse) filled with hot gas. It, in turn, is nested into a pair of larger spherical bubbles conjoined together along their waist. The waist is observed as the second larger ellipse lying perpendicular to the bubble with hot gas.[25]
The structure of the bright portion of the nebula is primarily caused by the interaction of a faststellar wind being emitted by the central PNN with the visible material ejected during the formation of the nebula. This interaction causes the emission of X-rays discussed above. The stellar wind, blowing with the velocity as high as1900 km/s, has 'hollowed out' the inner bubble of the nebula, and appears to have burst the bubble at both ends.[14]
It is also suspected that the central WR:+O7 spectral class PNN star, HD 164963 / BD +66 1066 / PPM 20679[1] of the nebula may be generated by abinary star.[1] The existence of anaccretion disk caused by mass transfer between the two components of the system may give rise toastronomical jets, which would interact with previously ejected material. Over time, the direction of the jets would vary due toprecession.[26][27]
Outside the bright inner portion of the nebula, there are a series of concentric rings, thought to have been ejected before the formation of the planetary nebula, while the star was on theasymptotic giant branch of theHertzsprung–Russell diagram. These rings are very evenly spaced, suggesting that the mechanism responsible for their formation ejected them at very regular intervals and at very similar speeds.[5] The total mass of the rings is about 0.1 solar masses.[28] The pulsations that formed the rings probably started 15,000 years ago and ceased about1000 years ago, when the formation of the bright central part began (see above).[29]
Further, a large faint halo extends to large distances from the star. The halo again predates the formation of the main nebula. The mass of the halo is estimated as 0.26–0.92 solar masses.[28]
Balick, Bruce; Wilson, Jeanine; Hajian, Arsen R. (2001), "NGC 6543: The Rings Around the Cat's Eye",Astronomical Journal,121 (1):354–361,Bibcode:2001AJ....121..354B,doi:10.1086/318052
Bianchi, L.; Cerrato, S.; Grewing, M. (November 1986), "Mass loss from central stars of planetary nebulae—the nucleus of NGC 6543",Astronomy and Astrophysics,169 (1–2):227–236,Bibcode:1986A&A...169..227B
Klaas, U.; Walker, S. J.; Müller, T. G.; Richards, P. J.; et al. (2006), "Multi-aperture photometry of extended IR sources with ISOPHOT. I. The nature of extended IR emission of planetary Nebulae",Astronomy and Astrophysics,452 (2):523–535,Bibcode:2006A&A...452..523K,doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20053245
Miranda, L. F.; Solf, J. (1992), "Long-slit spectroscopy of the planetary nebula NGC 6543—Collimated bipolar ejections from a precessing central source?",Astronomy and Astrophysics,260 (1–2):397–410,Bibcode:1992A&A...260..397M
Moore, S. L. (2007), "Observing the Cat's Eye Nebula",Journal of the British Astronomical Association,117 (5):279–280,Bibcode:2007JBAA..117R.279M
Reed, Darren S.; Balick, Bruce; Hajian, Arsen R.; Klayton, Tracy L.; et al. (1999), "Hubble Space Telescope Measurements of the Expansion of NGC 6543: Parallax Distance and Nebular Evolution",Astronomical Journal,118 (5):2430–2441,arXiv:astro-ph/9907313,Bibcode:1999AJ....118.2430R,doi:10.1086/301091,S2CID14746840
