NGC 6543 Common Name: The Cat's Eye Nebula Distance: 1,000±270 pc (Reed et al. 1999) Center of X-ray emission (J2000): 17h 58m 33.42s, +66° 37' 59.5'' X-ray size: 18''×8'' Description: limb-brightened elliptical shell with two ~3'' outward extensions along the major axis (Chu et al. 2001) plus a point source at the central star (Guerrero et al. 2001)

X-ray Optical X-ray + Optical

• More optical images of NGC 6543, the Cat's Eye Nebula
• PDF version of this page

200055	630	ACIS-456789	46.1	46.0	2000-05-10	( 17h 58m 33.42s, +66° 37′ 59.5′′ )

Exposureuf => Exposure time of un-filtered event file Exposuref => Exposure time of filtered event file

Event files have been reprocessed using CIAO 3.2.1 and CALDB 3.0.3

X-ray images and spectra have been extracted from the reprocessed level 2 filtered event files.

ObsID	Level 2 FITS Event File (un-filtered)	Level 2 FITS Event File (filtered)	X-ray Images	Spectra and Calibration Files
630	9.8 MB	9.7 MB	1.2 MB	12.2 MB

• See Nebular Fit Page and Stellar Fit Page for detailed information on the spectral fits.
• Click on the regions below for more information on the regions used.

Nebula	0.25 - 2.5	1450±40	0.0316±0.0009	6.2×10-14	8.1×10-14	1.0×1031
	0.25 - 0.7	1280±35	0.0279±0.0008	...	...	...
	0.7 - 1.1	145±12	0.0031±0.0003	...	...	...
	1.1 - 2.5	7±10	0.00015±0.00021	...	...	...
Central Star	0.25 - 2.5	135±15	0.0029±0.0003	5.5×10-15	7.1×10-15	8.6×1029
	0.25 - 0.7	84±8	0.0018±0.0002	...	...	...
	0.7 - 1.1	35±7	0.00076±0.00014	...	...	...
	1.1 - 2.5	14±10	0.0003±0.0002	...	...	...

The X-ray fluxes and luminosities corresponds to the 0.45-2.5 keV energy band. These values are computed from the spectral models with the best statistical fit. Hydrogen column density of NH = 4.0×1020 cm-2 as derived from the spectral fit. The distance has been adopted to be 1,000 pc following Reed et al. (1999)

• Images in Different Energy Bands
• "True Color" X-ray Picture
• Composite X-ray and Optical Picture

• Spectra and Spectral Fits

• Bernard-Salas et al. 2003, A&A 496, 165
  Nebular abundances of NGC 6543 used for the X-ray spectral fit.
• Chu et al. 2001, ApJ 553, L69
  Chandra discovery paper of diffuse X-ray emission from NGC 6543 and spectral analysis.
• Gruendl, Chu & Guerrero 2004, ApJ 617, L127
  FUSE discovery paper of nebular O VI emission from NGC 6543.
• Guerrero, Chu, & Gruendl 2000, ApJS 129, 295
  ROSAT pointed PSPC image and spectrum of NGC 6543.
• Guerrero et al. 2001, ApJ 553, L55
  Chandra discovery paper of an X-ray point-source at the central star of NGC 6543.
• Kreysing et al. 1992, A&A 264, 623
  ROSAT detection paper of X-ray emission from NGC 6543 based on RASS data.
• Maness & Vrtilek 2003, PASP 115, 1002
  Spectral analysis of the diffuse X-ray emission from NGC 6543 discovered by Chandra.
• Reed et al. 1999, AJ 118, 2430
  Distance to NGC 6543 based on its angular expansion.

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