Emission nebula · Orion
NGC 2024 Flame Nebula
30′ across
About
NGC 2024, the Flame Nebula, is an emission nebula in Orion, about 30′ across.
How to find it
- NGC 2024 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 78° N.
- Orion’s Belt and Sword: Right beside Alnitak, whose glare hides it; a telescope and a dark sky.
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)Hard to say: no reliable brightness is known.
- Telescope (6–8 inch)Brightness unknown, so probably a challenge.
For a dark country sky with no Moon. From a city, faint galaxies and nebulae can disappear completely.
Facts
| Designations | NGC 2024 |
|---|---|
| Type | Emission nebula |
| Apparent size | 30′ × 30′the full Moon is 31′ across |
| Constellation | Orion |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 05h 41m 42.6s |
| Declination (J2000) | −01° 51′ 23″ |
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 →