NGC 5315
Planetary nebula in Circinus with a hot, hydrogen-deficient central star.
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NGC 5315 is a planetary nebula in the southern constellation Circinus, discovered in 1883 by astronomer Ralph Copeland. It is notable for its complex structure, slightly elliptical form, and a broken ring, as well as for its central star of class WC4, which is hydrogen deficient and has an effective temperature of 76–79 kK.
Background
NGC 5315 was discovered in 1883 by astronomer Ralph Copeland. It is located 5.2 degrees west-southwest of Alpha Circini and is only visible as a disc at magnifications over 200-fold. The nebula has a slightly elliptical form, a complex structure, and a ring that is somewhat broken. It shows a typical abundance of carbon and a slightly enhanced nitrogen abundance.
Radial velocity studies indicate that the central star may be a member of a binary system. The nebula does not show enrichment of s-process elements, which suggests that the star's asymptotic giant branch stage may have been truncated by interaction with the companion. Alternatively, the star may be low in mass and did not undergo third dredge-up, or the star's s-process elements were heavily diluted by the envelope during the AGB phase.
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Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: NGC 5315 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Word definitions: the , each quoted from its Wikipedia article.
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