NGC 2626 nebula

NGC 2626 (also known as Ced 106h, GN 08.33.7, and VdBH 17) is a reflection and an emission nebula, located at a distance of around 3,300 light years in the constellation of Vela. It was discovered on the 2nd of January 1835 by John Herschel.

Responsible for powering the nebula are two stars. For the reflection component (i.e., the blue region) is a B1-type star  known as CD -40°4432, while for the emission component (i.e., the red region) is an O8-type star known as HD 73882.

Observations in the near infrared have revealed the presence of the Herbig-Haro object HH-132. The latter is a bright jet and it originates from the bright infrared source IRAS 08337-4028.

In a northeastern direction of CD -40°4432, a bright pulsating variable star is located. It is believed that is young star (i.e., EM Velorum) is an intermediate-mass Herbig Ae star.

NGC 2626 is an area of active star formation and observations revealed the presence of 32 young stars within the emission component. Furthermore, near infrared observations have revealed many young stars and protostars in the dark component of NGC 2626.

Image: Composite optical image of NGC 2626 taken with the 0.9-metre SMARTS telescope of the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. The image was created using broadband filters that are centred at 475 nm (g-band, blue), 626 nm (r-band, light blue), and 773 nm (i-band, orange), together with a narrow band filter that is focused on the emission of ionised hydrogen (Hα, red).

Image Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/SMARTS Consortium. Image processing: T. A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF’s NOIRLab), M. Zamani & D. de Martin (NSF’s NOIRLab)