NGC 2060

NGC 2060 is a star cluster within the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud, very close to the larger NGC 2070 cluster containing R136. It was discovered by John Herschel in 1836. It is a loose cluster approximately 10 million years old, within one of the Tarantula Nebula's superbubbles formed by the combined stellar winds of the cluster or by old supernovae.[1]

NGC 2060
An image of NGC 2060 taken by Hubble Space Telescope
Credit: NASA, ESA
Observation data (J2000.0 epoch)
Right ascension05h 37m 51.6s
Declination−69° 10′ 23″
Distance160,000 ly (50,000 pc)
Apparent magnitude (V)9.59
Physical characteristics
Associations
ConstellationDorado

NGC 2060 is often used synonymously for the supernova remnant N157B[2] (30 Doradus B[3]) which is a larger area of faint nebulosity and strong radio emission. The supernova occurred approximately 5000 years ago from our point of view. In 1998 a pulsar (named PSR J0537-6910) was discovered with the very fast rotation period of 16 milliseconds and the same approximate age as the supernova remnant.[4] VFTS 102 is a runaway O-type main-sequence star found with NGC 2060, which is proposed to be a companion of the pulsar ejected at the time of the supernova explosion.[5]

NGC 2060 has been identified as one of the few locations for OVz stars, stars with unusually strong HeII 468.6 nm absorption indicative of weak stellar winds and relatively low luminosity for the class. These stars are found in extremely young clusters and are thought to be a very early stage in the evolution of the most massive stars.[6] They are also found in the much more massive NGC 2070 cluster nearby in the Tarantula Nebula.

References
  1. Sabbi, E.; Anderson, J.; Lennon, D. J.; van der Marel, R. P.; Aloisi, A.; Boyer, M. L.; Cignoni, M.; de Marchi, G.; de Mink, S. E.; Evans, C. J.; Gallagher III, J. S.; Gordon, K.; Gouliermis, D. A.; Grebel, E. K.; Koekemoer, A. M.; Larsen, S. S.; Panagia, N.; Ryon, J. E.; Smith, L. J.; Tosi, M.; Zaritsky, D. (2013). "Hubble Tarantula Treasury Project: Unraveling Tarantula's Web. I. Observational overview and first results". The Astronomical Journal. 146 (3): 53. arXiv:1304.6747. Bibcode:2013AJ....146...53S. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/146/3/53. S2CID 118441242.
  2. Mathewson, D. S.; Clarke, J. N. (1973). "Supernova remnants in the Large Magellanic Cloud". The Astrophysical Journal. 180: 725. Bibcode:1973ApJ...180..725M. doi:10.1086/152002.
  3. Le Marne, A. E. (1968). "High resolution observations of the 30 Doradus Nebula at 408 MHz". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 139 (4): 461–469. Bibcode:1968MNRAS.139..461L. doi:10.1093/mnras/139.4.461.
  4. Mignani, R. P.; Pulone, L.; Iannicola, G.; Pavlov, G. G.; Townsley, L.; Kargaltsev, O. Y. (2005). "Search for the elusive optical counterpart of PSR J0537?6910 with the HST Advanced Camera for Surveys". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 431 (2): 659–665. arXiv:astro-ph/0411047. Bibcode:2005A&A...431..659M. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20041781. S2CID 12692116.
  5. Dufton, P. L.; Dunstall, P. R.; Evans, C. J.; Brott, I.; Cantiello, M.; De Koter, A.; De Mink, S. E.; Fraser, M.; Hénault-Brunet, V.; Howarth, I. D.; Langer, N.; Lennon, D. J.; Markova, N.; Sana, H.; Taylor, W. D. (2011). "The Vlt-Flames Tarantula Survey: The Fastest Rotating O-Type Star and Shortest Period Lmc Pulsar—Remnants of a Supernova Disrupted Binary?". The Astrophysical Journal. 743 (1): L22. arXiv:1111.0157. Bibcode:2011ApJ...743L..22D. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/743/1/L22. S2CID 118448435.
  6. Sabín-Sanjulián, C.; Simón-Díaz, S.; Herrero, A.; Walborn, N. R.; Puls, J.; Maíz Apellániz, J.; Evans, C. J.; Brott, I.; de Koter, A.; Garcia, M.; Markova, N.; Najarro, F.; Ramírez-Agudelo, O. H.; Sana, H.; Taylor, W. D.; Vink, J. S. (2013). "The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey. XIII: On the nature of O Vz stars in 30 Doradus". Astronomy. 564: A39. arXiv:1312.3278. Bibcode:2014A&A...564A..39S. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201322798. S2CID 55965378.
  • Media related to NGC 2060 at Wikimedia Commons


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