Top Results for Northern Sky

The Blue Snowball Nebula, designated as NGC 7662, is a bright and compact planetary nebula located in the northern constellation of Andromeda. It was discovered by the astronomer William Herschel in 1784. The nebula is notable for its nearly circular disk and its vivid blue-green color, which is eas...

NGC 1491 is an emission nebula and H II region in the constellation Perseus, also catalogued as Sharpless 2-206. Its visible glow comes from hydrogen gas ionized by energetic ultraviolet radiation from a hot star associated with the region. Dense dust and gas along one side form a prominent bright r...

The Crystal Ball Nebula, catalogued as NGC 1514, is a planetary nebula in the constellation Taurus. William Herschel discovered it in 1790, and his observation of a luminous cloud surrounding a central star became an early example of a nebula understood as glowing material rather than simply an unre...

NGC 2371-2 is a bipolar planetary nebula in the constellation Gemini, formed from material expelled by a dying star. Its two bright lobes give it a double-lobed appearance, and the object is sometimes listed as two related catalog entries, NGC 2371 and NGC 2372. William Herschel discovered it in 178...

NGC 40, known as the Bow-Tie Nebula, is a planetary nebula in Cepheus created when a low- to intermediate-mass star shed its outer atmosphere. William Herschel recorded it in 1788, and the expanding gas now appears as a compact, two-sided shell around a hot central star. The central star has Wolf-Ra...

IC 4593, known as the White-Eyed Pea Nebula, is a compact planetary nebula in the constellation Hercules. Its bright central star sits within a small shell of ionized gas, creating the white-eyed appearance used in descriptions and images. Like other planetary nebulae, it represents material expelle...

NGC 6905, called the Blue Flash Nebula, is a planetary nebula in Delphinus at a distance of roughly 7,500 light-years. It contains a near-circular shell of ionized gas surrounding a hot central white dwarf, whose radiation makes the nebula glow and gives it a blue-tinted appearance. The nickname des...

IC 4593 is a planetary nebula in the constellation Hercules, formed from gas expelled by a star near the end of its life. Its bright inner shell appears as a small blue-white disk around a hot central star, with fainter material extending beyond the compact core. The informal name White-Eyed Pea ref...

NGC 7026 is a bipolar planetary nebula in the constellation Cygnus. It consists of glowing, ionized gas expelled by a dying star and shaped into two bright lobes separated by a dense central waist. That layered structure gives rise to the informal name Cheeseburger Nebula, which describes the object...

The Fetus Nebula, also known as NGC 7008, is a planetary nebula in the constellation Cygnus. It formed after a low- or intermediate-mass star expelled its outer layers near the end of its evolution, leaving a hot stellar remnant at the center. Its irregular, asymmetric outline and layered structure...

The W3 Complex is a large star-forming region in the Perseus spiral arm of the Milky Way, in the direction of the constellation Cassiopeia. It contains molecular clouds, ionized gas, young stellar objects, and several sites where massive stars are forming. Astronomers study W3 because its combinatio...

The Lemon Slice Nebula, catalogued as IC 3568, is a planetary nebula in the northern constellation Camelopardalis. It consists of a bright inner region and surrounding shells of gas expelled by the star that formed it, giving the object a compact and nearly spherical appearance. Its relatively simpl...

NGC 6804 is a planetary nebula in the constellation Aquila. It has a ring-like bright inner shell and a much fainter, more extended outer halo, giving the object a layered appearance in deep images. William Herschel recorded the nebula in 1791. Like other planetary nebulae, it consists of gas expell...

IC 5117 is a compact planetary nebula in the constellation Cygnus. Its small apparent size can make it resemble a star when viewed through a modest telescope, although its emission is produced by ionized gas surrounding a hot stellar remnant. Spectroscopic observations distinguish it from an ordinar...

Minkowski 1-79 is a planetary nebula in the constellation Cygnus, catalogued by astronomer Rudolph Minkowski. It is classified as a bipolar nebula because its glowing gas forms two main lobes around the evolved central star, giving the object an hourglass-like appearance. It is an object for observe...

vdB 1 is a reflection nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia and the first entry in Sidney van den Bergh's Catalog of Reflection Nebulae. Its bluish appearance comes from starlight scattered by surrounding dust rather than from the gas emitting its own light. The nebula is associated with the star B...

IC 289 is a faint planetary nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia. It has a broadly circular shell and low surface brightness, so it is more difficult to observe and photograph than brighter planetary nebulae. The object is useful for observers studying the extended gas expelled by an aging star an...

NGC 7354 is a planetary nebula in the constellation Cepheus. It consists of glowing gas expelled by a dying star and is observed as a compact, nearly circular nebula with multiple shell-like structures surrounding a brighter inner region. Its form makes it a useful object for studying the interactio...

A planetary nebula in Cassiopeia with an annular morphology catalogued in the Index Catalogue, lying several thousand light-years distant and exhibiting a moderately hot central star.

NGC 7139 is a faint planetary nebula in the constellation Cepheus. It has a roughly circular appearance and a low surface brightness, making it more difficult to observe than compact, brighter planetary nebulae. The nebula lies approximately 3,300 light-years from the Sun and represents the expelled...

NGC 6886 is a compact planetary nebula in the constellation Sagitta. Its small, bright disk has a high surface brightness, which makes the object accessible to observers using modest telescopes under suitable sky conditions. It lies approximately 6,000 light-years from Earth and consists of ionized...

IC 351 is a nearly circular planetary nebula in the constellation Perseus. It has a compact apparent size and high surface brightness, so its structure is easier to detect than that of many diffuse planetary nebulae. Its strong emission lines and relatively simple appearance have also made it useful...

A multi-shell planetary nebula catalogued by Czech astronomer Luboš Kohoutek, whose concentric shells record successive mass-loss episodes from its progenitor star.

NGC 6879 is a planetary nebula in the constellation Sagitta, catalogued as a compact, nearly stellar object about 5 arcseconds across and roughly magnitude 12.5 in visual observing lists. Like other planetary nebulae, it is a shell of gas expelled by an evolved low- or intermediate-mass star and lit...