# IC 4406

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Planetary nebula in the constellation of Lupus

IC 4406 Emission nebula Planetary nebula Hubble Space Telescope view of IC 4406 Observation data: J2000 epoch Right ascension 14h 22m 26.278s[1] Declination −44° 09′ 04.35″[1] Distance 2.0 kly (600 pc)[2] ly Constellation Lupus Physical characteristics Absolute magnitude (V) -0.3 Notable features - Designations Retina Nebula[3] See also: Lists of nebulae

**IC 4406**, sometimes known as the **Retina Nebula**,[4] is a [planetary nebula](/source/Planetary_nebula) near the western border of the [constellation](/source/Constellation) [Lupus](/source/Lupus_(constellation)), the Wolf. It has dust clouds and has the shape of a [torus](/source/Torus). Despite this, it looks somewhat rectangular because it is seen from its side as viewed from [Earth](/source/Earth), almost in the plane[2] of its equator.

## Structure

IC 4406 is [bipolar](/source/Bipolar_nebula) and appears to be a [prolate spheroid](/source/Prolate_spheroid) with strong concentrations of material in its [equator](/source/Equator).[3] This kind of structure is a natural product of a bipolar model.[3] The knots of IC 4406 have a "lacy" appearance and have no ordered symmetry towards the [central star](/source/White_dwarf).[2] The knots have no tails.[2] None of the features have bright edges.[2] At least 5 faint ring-like structures, seen as arcs north and south of the main nebula, have been detected in [Very Large Telescope](/source/Very_Large_Telescope) observations.[5]

The central star of the planetary nebula has a [spectral type](/source/Spectral_type) similar to that of a [Wolf–Rayet](/source/Wolf%E2%80%93Rayet_star) star.[6] An analysis of *[Gaia](/source/Gaia_(spacecraft))* data suggests that it may be a [binary system](/source/Binary_star).[7]

## Gallery

		- IC 4406 seen with [MUSE instrument](/source/Multi_Unit_Spectroscopic_Explorer) and the Adaptive Optics Facility.[8]

## See also

- [Planetary nebula](/source/Planetary_nebula)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-simbad_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-simbad_1-1) ["SIMBAD Astronomical Database"](http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/Simbad). *Results for IC 4406*. Retrieved 2006-12-19.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-ODelletal2003_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-ODelletal2003_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-ODelletal2003_2-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-ODelletal2003_2-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-ODelletal2003_2-4) O'dell, C. R.; Balick, B.; Hajian, A. R.; Henney, W. J.; et al. (2003). ["Knots in Planetary Nebulae"](https://web.archive.org/web/20180501131545/http://www.astroscu.unam.mx/~rmaa/). In S. J. Arthur & W. J. Henney (ed.). *[Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica](/source/Revista_Mexicana_de_Astronom%C3%ADa_y_Astrof%C3%ADsica) (Serie de Conferencias)*. Winds, Bubbles, and Explosions: a conference to honor John Dyson, Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, México, September 9–13, 2002. Vol. 15. pp. 29–33. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2003RMxAC..15...29O](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003RMxAC..15...29O). Archived from [the original](http://www.astroscu.unam.mx/~rmaa/) on 2018-05-01. Retrieved 2006-12-19.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-ODelletal2002_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-ODelletal2002_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-ODelletal2002_3-2) O'Dell, C. R.; Balick, B.; Hajian, A. R.; Henney, W. J.; Burkert, A. (2002). ["Knots in Nearby Planetary Nebulae"](https://doi.org/10.1086%2F340726). *The Astronomical Journal*. **123** (6): 3329–3347. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2002AJ....123.3329O](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002AJ....123.3329O). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1086/340726](https://doi.org/10.1086%2F340726).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Chadwick_4-0)** Chadwick, Stephen; Cooper, Ian (11 December 2012). *Imaging the Southern Sky*. Springer. p. 149. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1461447498](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1461447498).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Ramos-Larios_5-0)** Ramos-Larios, G.; Toalá, J. A.; Rodríguez-González, J. B.; Guerrero, M. A.; Gómez-González, V. M. A. (June 2022). ["Rings and arcs around evolved stars - III. Physical conditions of the ring-like structures in the planetary nebula IC 4406 revealed by MUSE"](https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fmnras%2Fstac605). *Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society*. **513** (2): 2862–2868. [arXiv](/source/ArXiv_(identifier)):[2203.01254](https://arxiv.org/abs/2203.01254). [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2022MNRAS.513.2862R](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2022MNRAS.513.2862R). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1093/mnras/stac605](https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fmnras%2Fstac605). [hdl](/source/Hdl_(identifier)):[10261/275661](https://hdl.handle.net/10261%2F275661).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Gonz_6-0)** González-Santamaría, I.; Manteiga, M.; Manchado, A.; Ulla, A.; Dafonte, C.; López Varela, P. (2021). "Planetary nebulae in Gaia EDR3: Central star identification, properties, and binarity". *Astronomy & Astrophysics*. **656**: A51. [arXiv](/source/ArXiv_(identifier)):[2109.12114](https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.12114). [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2021A&A...656A..51G](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2021A&A...656A..51G). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1051/0004-6361/202141916](https://doi.org/10.1051%2F0004-6361%2F202141916). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [237940344](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:237940344).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Chornay_7-0)** Chornay, N.; Walton, N. A.; Jones, D.; Boffin, H. M. J.; Rejkuba, M.; Wesson, R. (2021). "Towards a more complete sample of binary central stars of planetary nebulae with Gaia". *Astronomy & Astrophysics*. **648**: A95. [arXiv](/source/ArXiv_(identifier)):[2101.01800](https://arxiv.org/abs/2101.01800). [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2021A&A...648A..95C](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2021A&A...648A..95C). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1051/0004-6361/202140288](https://doi.org/10.1051%2F0004-6361%2F202140288). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [230770301](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:230770301).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-eso_8-0)** ["Cutting-edge Adaptive Optics Facility Sees First Light - Spectacular improvement in the sharpness of MUSE images"](https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1724/). *www.eso.org*. Retrieved 4 August 2017.

## External links

- Media related to [IC 4406](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:IC_4406) at Wikimedia Commons

v t e Constellation of Lupus List of stars in Lupus Lupus in Chinese astronomy Stars Bayer α (Uridim) β γ δ ε ζ η θ ι κ λ μ ν1 ν2 ξ ο π ρ σ τ1 τ2 υ φ1 φ2 χ ψ1 ψ2 ω Flamsteed 1 (i) 2 (f) Variable RU EX GG GQ HR II IL IM KT (d) V407 V462 HR 5362 5364 5401 5651 (e) 5724 (k) 5825 (g) 5943 5967 HD 134004 135344 136164 141943 142527 143811 Other Gliese 588 HIP 70849 Lupus-TR-3 SSSPM J1549−3544 WASP-132 Exoplanets GQ Lupi b HIP 70849 b Lupus-TR-3b WASP-178b Star clusters NGC 5749 NGC 5822 NGC 5824 NGC 5927 NGC 5986 Nebulae IC 4406 NGC 5882 Galaxies IC 4444 NGC 5530 NGC 5643 Astronomical events SN 1006 Category

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