Hubble's Planetary Nebula Gallery. A View of NGC 3918
Depicts: NGC 3918, IRAS 11478-5654
Copyright: Howard Bond (Space Telescope Science Institute), Robin Ciardullo (Pennsylvania State University) and NASA
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NGC 3918 is in the constellation Centaurus
and is about 3,000 light-years from us. Its diameter is about
0.3 light-year. It shows a roughly spherical outer envelope
but an elongated inner balloon inflated by a fast wind from
the hot central star, which is starting to break out of the
spherical envelope at the top and bottom of the image.
Last Update: 1 September 2019