Planetary nebula · Lepus
IC 418 Spirograph Nebula
mag 9.412″ across
About
IC 418, the Spirograph Nebula, is a planetary nebula of magnitude 9.4 in Lepus, about 12″ across.
How to find it
- IC 418 is in the constellation Lepus.
- Best evenings: around late January it is highest at about 9 pm (10 pm in summer time); a month earlier, two hours later.
- Where on Earth: it is seen well, at least 10° up, from south of 67° N.
When it rises and sets tonight, how high it climbs and how much the Moon gets in the way are worked out in your browser for your place.
What you will see
- EyesNot visible to the naked eye.
- Binoculars (10×50)Looks like a faint star.
- Telescope (6–8 inch)Starlike at low power; high power shows a tiny blue-green disc.
For a dark country sky with no Moon. From a city, faint galaxies and nebulae can disappear completely.
Facts
| Designations | IC 418, PK 215-24 1, PN G215.2-24.2 |
|---|---|
| Type | Planetary nebula |
| Magnitude | 9.4The smaller the number, the brighter. |
| Apparent size | 12″the full Moon is 31′ across |
| Surface brightness | ≈ 14.6 mag/arcsec²Estimate from the magnitude and size, per square arcsecond. |
| Constellation | Lepus |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 05h 27m 28.2s |
| Declination (J2000) | −12° 41′ 50″ |
Sources and credits
Catalog data: OpenNGC by Mattia Verga, CC BY-SA 4.0, and d3-celestial by Olaf Frohn, BSD 3-Clause. All data sources →