NGC 3242 [SEP] constellation
NGC 3242
NGC 3242, commonly known as the Ghost of Jupiter, is a planetary nebula located in the constellation Hydra.
William Herschel discovered the nebula on February 7, 1785, and cataloged it as H IV.27. John Herschel observed it from the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, in the 1830s, and numbered it as h 3248, and included it in the 1864 General Catalogue as GC 2102; this became NGC 3242 in J. L. E. Dreyer's "New General Catalogue" of 1888.
This
in false-color pictures. NGC 3242 can easily be observed with amateur telescopes and appears bluish-green to most observers. Larger telescopes can distinguish the outer halo as well.
See also.
- List of NGC objects
- Planetary nebulae
External links.
- The Hubble European Space Agency Information Centre – Hubble picture and information on NGC 3242
- NGC3242 on astro-pics.com
- FLIERs in NGC 3242