The Planets

  • Planets
    • Mercury
    • Venus
    • Earth
    • Mars
    • Jupiter
      • Jupiter Red Spot
    • Saturn
    • Uranus
    • Neptune
  • Solar System
    • Dwarf Planets
      • Ceres
      • Pluto
      • Haumea
      • Makemake
      • Eris
      • Sedna
    • Moons
      • Moons of Saturn
      • Moons of Jupiter
    • The Sun
    • The Moon
      • New Moon
      • Waxing Gibbous Moon
      • First Quarter Moon
      • Waxing Crescent Moon
      • Full Moon
      • Lunar Eclipses
    • Asteroid Belt
    • The Heliopause
    • Kuiper Belt
    • Oort Cloud
    • Solar Eclipses
  • Objects
    • Asterisms
    • Asteroids
    • Comets
    • Constellations
    • Gas Giants
    • Meteorites
    • Meteor Showers
    • Stars
      • Star Clusters & Clouds
      • Types Of Stars
    • Terrestrial Planets
  • Galaxies
    • Black Holes
    • Andromeda
    • Antennae
    • Centaurus A
    • The Milky Way
    • Magellanic Clouds
    • Pinwheel
    • Sombrero
    • Triangulum
    • Whirlpool
    • Types Of Galaxies
    • Superclusters
  • Tools
    • Buying Guides For 2023
    • Your Weight on Other Planets
    • Your Age on Other Planets
    • Calculate Distances Between Planets
    • Interactive Solar System Model
  • Questions

Gum Nebula – Facts and Info

Named for a cosmic cloud hunter, Australian astronomer Colin Stanley Gum, the Gum Nebula is a large, almost circular emission nebula in the constellations Vela and Puppis. It lies approximately 450 parsecs from the Earth

Overview

  • Object: Emission nebula
  • Constellation: Vela
  • Right ascension: 08h 00m s
  • Declination: −43° 00′ :″
  • Diameter: 1,000 light years
  • Absolute magnitude: 3.73
  • Distance: 1470 light years/450 parsecs
  • Designations: Gum Nebula, Gum 12

 

gum nebula

General Facts

The Gum Nebula, also designated as Gum 12, is an emission nebula in the constellations Vela and Puppis, extending about 35° in the two southern constellations. It lies at a distance of around 1470 light years away from Earth, and stretches about 1000 light years across.

This Nebula is difficult to distinguish, but it is widely believed to be the greatly expanded remains of a supernova explosion that took place about a million years ago. This extensive area of ionized hydrogen is still expanding, and some research has indicated that it may be an evolved H II region.

To the naked eye this nebula is invisible, but it can be brought to life quite clearly through long exposure astrophotography, and/ or photo stacking.

The nebula has an absolute magnitude of 3.73 and is 1,000 light years in diameter. It contains the 11,000-year-old Vela Supernova Remnant, along with the Vela Pulsar.

The Gum Nebula also contains around 32 cometary globules, which are dense cloud cores that subject to such strong radiation from O-type stars Gamma Velorum and Zeta Puppis and formerly the progenitor of the Vela Supernova Remnant that the cloud cores evaporate away from the hot stars into comet-like shapes. Like ordinary Bok globules, cometary globules are believed to be associated with star formation.

 

History

  • The Gum Nebula was discovered by the Australian astronomer Colin Stanley Gum, after who the nebula is named. Gum had published his findings in 1955 in a work called A study of diffuse southern H-alpha nebulae.
  • As the nebula is a recent 20th century discovery there are no common myths or historical tales from any culture around this object.

 

Image Sources:

  •  Adam Block/ Telescope Live – https://www.syfy.com/sites/syfy/files/styles/1140x640_hero/public/adamblock_gum15.jpg

 

 

Link/cite this page

If you use any of the content on this page in your own work, please use the code below to cite this page as the source of the content.

  • <a href="https://theplanets.org/nebula-facts/gum-nebula/">Gum Nebula – Facts and Info</a>

  • Stewart, Suzy. "Gum Nebula – Facts and Info". The Planets. Accessed on March 24, 2023. https://theplanets.org/nebula-facts/gum-nebula/.

  • Stewart, Suzy. "Gum Nebula – Facts and Info". The Planets, https://theplanets.org/nebula-facts/gum-nebula/. Accessed 24 March, 2023.

  • Stewart, Suzy. Gum Nebula – Facts and Info. The Planets. Retrieved from https://theplanets.org/nebula-facts/gum-nebula/.

Search The Universe

Popular Posts

  • Space Facts
  • Planet Facts
  • Sun Facts
  • Moon Facts
  • Types of Galaxy
  • Star Facts

Facts About The Eight Planets

  • Facts About Mercury
  • Facts About Venus
  • Facts About Earth
  • Facts About Mars
  • Facts About Jupiter
  • Facts About Saturn
  • Facts About Uranus
  • Facts About Neptune
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

© The Planets 2010 - 2023 | Privacy Policy & Affiliate Disclaimer

Copyright © 2023 ThePlanets.org | Sitemap