Reflection nebula | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Observation data: J2000 epoch | |
Right ascension | 06h 31m 12.0s |
Declination | +10° 02′ 00″ |
Apparent dimensions (V) | ~25 arcminutes dia. |
Constellation | Monoceros |
Physical characteristics | |
Radius | 0.25 x 0.9 ly |
Designations | Dreyer's Nebula, IC 447, IC 2169 |
IC 447 is an ionized reflection nebula located in the constellation Monoceros. [1]
Monoceros is a faint constellation on the celestial equator. Its definition is attributed to the 17th-century cartographer Petrus Plancius. It is bordered by Orion to the west, Gemini to the north, Canis Major to the south, and Hydra to the east. Other bordering constellations include Canis Minor, Lepus, and Puppis.
The Rosette Nebula is an H II region located near one end of a giant molecular cloud in the Monoceros region of the Milky Way Galaxy. The open cluster NGC 2244 is closely associated with the nebulosity, the stars of the cluster having been formed from the nebula's matter.
The North America Nebula is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus, close to Deneb. It is named because its shape resembles North America.
The Elephant's Trunk Nebula is a concentration of interstellar gas and dust within the much larger ionized gas region IC 1396 located in the constellation Cepheus about 2,400 light years away from Earth. The piece of the nebula shown here is the dark, dense globule IC 1396A; it is commonly called the Elephant's Trunk nebula because of its appearance at visible light wavelengths, where there is a dark patch with a bright, sinuous rim. The bright rim is the surface of the dense cloud that is being illuminated and ionized by a very bright, massive star that is just to the east of IC 1396A. The entire IC 1396 region is ionized by the massive star, except for dense globules that can protect themselves from the star's harsh ultraviolet rays.
Messier 90 is an intermediate spiral galaxy exhibiting a weak inner ring structure about 60 million light-years away[a] in the constellation Virgo. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1781.
Barnard's Loop is an emission nebula in the constellation of Orion. It is part of the Orion molecular cloud complex which also contains the dark Horsehead and bright Orion nebulae. The loop takes the form of a large arc centered approximately on the Orion Nebula. The stars within the Orion Nebula are believed to be responsible for ionizing the loop.
The Veil Nebula is a cloud of heated and ionized gas and dust in the constellation Cygnus.
NGC 5882 is a small planetary nebula in the southern constellation of Lupus, positioned about 1.5° to the southwest of the star Epsilon Lupi. It was discovered by English astronomer John Herschel on July 2, 1834 from the Cape of Good Hope observatory. John L. E. Dreyer described it as "very small, round, quite sharp". It is located at a distance of approximately 7.7 kilolight-years from the Sun.
NGC 2244 is an open cluster in the Rosette Nebula, which is located in the constellation Monoceros. This cluster has several O-type stars, super hot stars that generate large amounts of radiation and stellar wind.
The Heart Nebula is an emission nebula, 7500 light years away from Earth and located in the Perseus Arm of the Galaxy in the constellation Cassiopeia. It was discovered by William Herschel on 3 November 1787. It displays glowing ionized hydrogen gas and darker dust lanes.
IC 5146 is a reflection/emission nebula and Caldwell object in the constellation Cygnus. The NGC description refers to IC 5146 as a cluster of 9.5 mag stars involved in a bright and dark nebula. The cluster is also known as Collinder 470. It shines at magnitude +10.0/+9.3/+7.2. Its celestial coordinates are RA 21h 53.5m, dec +47° 16′. It is located near the naked-eye star Pi Cygni, the open cluster NGC 7209 in Lacerta, and the bright open cluster M39. The cluster is about 4,000 ly away, and the central star that lights it formed about 100,000 years ago; the nebula is about 12 arcmins across, which is equivalent to a span of 15 light years.
IC 3568 is a planetary nebula that is 1.3 kiloparsecs away from Earth in the constellation of Camelopardalis. It is a relatively young nebula and has a core diameter of only about 0.4 light years. It was dubbed the Lemon Slice Nebula by Jim Kaler, due to its appearance in one false-colour image from the Hubble Space Telescope. The Lemon Slice Nebula is one of the most simple nebulae known, with an almost perfectly spherical morphology. The core of the nebula does not have a distinctly visible structure in formation and is mostly composed of ionized helium. A faint halo of interstellar dust surrounds the nebula. The central star of the planetary nebula is an O-type star with a spectral type of O(H)3.
NGC 2506 is a mildly-elongated open cluster of stars in the equatorial constellation of Monoceros, located at a distance of 12.7 kly from the Sun near the Galactic anti-center. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1791. The cluster lies around 10,000 ly from the Galactic Center and about 1,600 ly above the Galactic plane. It is of intermediate age, estimated at around two billion years. The cluster has an angular radius of 12′ and a core radius of 4.8′.
IC 2177 is a region of nebulosity that lies along the border between the constellations Monoceros and Canis Major. It is a roughly circular H II region centered on the Be star HD 53367. This nebula was discovered by Welsh amateur astronomer Isaac Roberts and was described by him as "pretty bright, extremely large, irregularly round, very diffuse."
NGC 3938 is an unbarred spiral galaxy in the Ursa Major constellation. It was discovered on 6 February 1788 by William Herschel. It is one of the brightest spiral galaxies in the Ursa Major South galaxy group and is roughly 67,000 light years in diameter. It is approximately 43 million light years away from Earth. NGC 3938 is classified as type Sc under the Hubble sequence, a loosely wound spiral galaxy with a smaller and dimmer bulge. The spiral arms of the galaxy contain many areas of ionized atomic hydrogen gas, more so towards the center.
HD 259431 is a young stellar object in the constellation of Monoceros.
IC 2006 is an elliptical galaxy in the constellation Eridanus. The galaxy was discovered on 3 October 1897 by the American astronomer Lewis A. Swift. It is estimated to be around 60 to 70 million light years away, in the Fornax Cluster. The galaxy is one of the smaller in the Fornax cluster, with a diameter of only 35 000 light-years.
NGC 7020 is a barred lenticular galaxy located about 140 million light-years away in the constellation Pavo. NGC 7020 was discovered by astronomer John Herschel on August 31, 1836.
NGC 2494 is a lenticular galaxy located in the Monoceros constellation. It is 183 million light-years away and about 58,000 light-years in diameter.