Learn

      • Blog
      • Academy
      • About us
      • Forum

      Legal

      • Privacy Policy
      • Cookie Policy
      • Terms & Conditions

      Pricing

      • Plans

      Tutorials

      • All tutorials
      • Our tutors
      • Webinars

      Follow us

      • Facebook
      • Instagram
      RCW 100
      Wallpaper author:
      Kabir Jami

      07 Sept 2026

      RCW 100

      RCW-100/Shapley 1/PLN 329+2.1 is a planetary nebula in the constellation of Norma with a magnitude of +12.6. As viewed from Earth, it is peculiar in that it seems to be a non-bipolar, torus-shaped planetary nebula. However, it is thought that this is due to the viewpoint of looking directly down on a binary system whose orbit is perpendicular to Earth.


      Discovered in 1936 by Harlow Shapley, it is approximately 4900 light years from Earth, and is around 8700 years old. At the center of the nebula is a magnitude 14 white dwarf star. It has an angular diameter of 1.1 arc minutes, which makes it about one-third (.32) of a light year across.

      Dataset from which the image was processed

      RCW 100

      8 credit

      Open
      Telescope Live
      CHI-1-CMOS
      • Type of target
        ............................................................................................................................
        Planetary Nebula
      • Camera
        ............................................................................................................................
        QHY 600M
      • Target coordinates
        ............................................................................................................................
        RA 237.9167 Dec -51.5244
      • Hemisphere
        ............................................................................................................................
        Southern
      • Telescope location
        ............................................................................................................................
        Chile
      • Transient event
        ............................................................................................................................
        No
      • Observed on
        ............................................................................................................................
        29 May 2025 - 05 Jun 2025
      Filter
      Avg Exp (s)
      Total Exposure
      Subframes
      Halpha3002h30m30
      SII3002h30m30
      OIII3002h30m30

      RCW 100