Gomez's Hamburger

Gomez's Hamburger

IRAS 18059-3211 as seen by Hubble

Gomez's Hamburger is believed to be a young star surrounded by a protoplanetary disk.[1] It was initially identified as a planetary nebula, and its distance was estimated to be approximately 6500 light-years away from Earth.[2] However, recent results suggest that this object is a young star surrounded by a protoplanetary disk, at a distance of about 900 light-years away.[1][3]

It was discovered in 1985 on sky photographs obtained by Arturo Gomez, support technical staff at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory near Vicuña, Chile.[4] The photos suggested that there was a dark band across the object, but its exact structure was difficult to determine because of the atmospheric turbulence that hampers all images taken from the ground. The star itself has a surface temperature of approximately 10,000 K.

The "buns" are light reflecting off dust, and the "burger" is the dark band of dust in the middle.

References

  1. 1 2 V. Bujarrabal, K. Young, D. Fong (2008). "Gomez's Hamburger (IRAS 18059-3211): A pre main-sequence A-type star". The Astrophysical Journal 688 (2): 1118–1123. arXiv:0807.2398. Bibcode:2008ApJ...688.1118W. doi:10.1086/592185.
  2. ↑ "Hubble Astronomers Feast on an Interstellar Hamburger". Space Telescope Science Institute. August 1, 2002. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
  3. ↑ Wood, K.; Whitney, B.A.; Robitaille, T.; Draine, B.T. (2008). "Emission from Very Small Grains and PAH Molecules in Monte Carlo Radiation Transfer Codes: Application to the Edge-On Disk of Gomez's Hamburger". Astronomy and Astrophysics. arXiv:0803.1438. Bibcode:2008yCat..34830839B. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20079273.
  4. ↑ "Gomez's Hamburger".
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