NGC 3195

NGC 3195 is a planetary nebula located in the constellation Chamaeleon. It is completely invisible to northern observers. However, NGC 3195 is one of the most commonly observed planetary nebulae in the far southern skies, probably second in popularity to the brighter planetary NGC 3918 in Centaurus.

Discovered by Sir John Herschel in 1835, this slightly oval but sizeable 40 by 35 arcsec planetary nebula can be seen in telescopes of 4 inches or greater aperture at low magnification.

Spectroscopy reveals that NGC 3195 is approaching us at 17 km/sec, while the nebulosity is expanding at around 40 km/sec. The central star is visual magnitude 15.3. Its distance is presently estimated at 1700 parsecs.