M2-42
| Emission nebula | |
|---|---|
| Planetary nebula | |
| Observation data: J2000 epoch | |
| Right ascension | 18h 22m 32.08s |
| Declination | −24° 09′ 27.7″ |
| Distance | 30,800 (9444 pc) ly |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 13.9 |
| Apparent dimensions (V) | 4″ |
| Notable features | Bipolar outflow, Bipolar nebula |
| Designations | PN M 2-42 PNG 008.2-04.8 |
Minkowski 2-42, abbreviated M2-42, is a planetary nebula that was discovered by Rudolph Minkowski in 1947. It is located about 30,800 light-years away from Earth in the Galactic bulge. It is known to be a bipolar planetary nebula containing two jets of material emerging from both sides of its central star. It has been found that its bipolar outflows have the typical features of Fast Low-Ionization Emission Region (FLIER).
The central star of M2-42 is classified as weak emission-line star, but its nitrogen and helium features may be linked to nitrogen sequences of Wolf-Rayet central stars of planetary nebula ([WN]). The chemical composition of this planetary nebula was found to be around the solar metallicity.