The Clown-faced Nebula: NGC 2392 | Hubble Space Telescope

The Clown-faced Nebula: NGC 2392 | Hubble Space Telescope

The Clown-faced Nebula (NGC 2392) or Caldwell 39, is a bipolar double-shell planetary nebula (PN). It was discovered by astronomer William Herschel in 1787. It is surrounded by gas that composed the outer layers of a Sun-like star. The visible inner filaments are ejected by a strong wind of particles from the central star. The outer disk contains unusual, light-year-long filaments.

NGC 2392 lies about 6,500 light-years away, and is visible with a small telescope in the constellation of Gemini.

At the center of NGC 2392, there is an O-type star with a spectral type of O(H)6f.

Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), Andrew Fruchter (STScI), and the ERO team (STScI + ST-ECF)

Release Date: Jan. 24, 2000

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