Planetary nebula · Aquarius

NGC 7009 Saturn Nebula

Also known as: C55

mag 8.042″ across

About

NGC 7009, the Saturn Nebula, is a planetary nebula of magnitude 8.0 in Aquarius, about 42″ across.

NGC 7009 is in the constellation Aquarius.
Best evenings: around late September 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 69° 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.

EyesNot visible to the naked eye.
Binoculars (10×50)Looks like a faint star.
Telescope (6–8 inch)A small disc or ring of grey-green light; an OIII or UHC filter helps.

For a dark country sky with no Moon. From a city, faint galaxies and nebulae can disappear completely.

Designations	NGC 7009, C55, PN G037.7-34.5
Type	Planetary nebula
Magnitude	8.0The smaller the number, the brighter.
Apparent size	42″ × 30″position angle 70°; the full Moon is 31′ across
Surface brightness	≈ 15.5 mag/arcsec²Estimate from the magnitude and size, per square arcsecond.
Constellation	Aquarius
Right ascension (J2000)	21h 04m 10.8s
Declination (J2000)	−11° 21′ 48″

Catalog data: OpenNGC by Mattia Verga, CC BY-SA 4.0, and d3-celestial by Olaf Frohn, BSD 3-Clause. All data sources →