C109

The one hundred and nine objects of the Caldwell Catalogue are arranged in order of their declination, from the farthest north to the farthest south. As the last object in that catalogue, therefore, C109 is also the most southerly. It falls within the boundaries of the constellation Chamæleon, less than ten degrees from the Southern Celestial Pole.

Like all planetary nebulae, C109 represents the outer shell of an old giant star dissipating out into space, and illuminated by radiation from the stellar core at its centre. C109 is a relatively symmetrical example, appearing as glowing 'bubble' of material with a slightly mottled appearance. The expanding shell covers a diameter of more than a light year, and is expanding outward from the core at some forty kilometres per second.