Emission nebula · Orion
NGC 1973 Mermaid's Purse Nebula
mag 7.05′ across
About
NGC 1973, the Mermaid's Purse Nebula, is an emission nebula of magnitude 7.0 in Orion, about 5′ across.
How to find it
- NGC 1973 is in the constellation Orion.
- 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 75° 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)Too faint for most binoculars.
- Telescope (6–8 inch)A faint glow — a UHC or OIII filter and a dark sky make the difference.
For a dark country sky with no Moon. From a city, faint galaxies and nebulae can disappear completely.
Facts
| Designations | NGC 1973 |
|---|---|
| Type | Emission nebula |
| Magnitude | 7.0The smaller the number, the brighter. |
| Apparent size | 5′ × 5′the full Moon is 31′ across |
| Constellation | Orion |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 05h 35m 04.8s |
| Declination (J2000) | −04° 43′ 54″ |
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 →