IC 405

This article is about the nebula in Auriga; not to be confused with Flame nebula NGC 2024, a nebula in Orion.

IC 405

Emission nebula
reflection nebula
IC 405 captured with Ha, OIII, and SII narrowband filters and processed in the Hubble Palette
Observation data: J2000 epoch
Right ascension	05h 16m 05s
Declination	+34° 27′ 49″
Distance	1500 ly
Apparent magnitude (V)	+6.0?
Apparent dimensions (V)	37′ × 10′
Constellation	Auriga
Physical characteristics
Radius	2.5 ly
Designations	Flaming Star Nebula, Caldwell 31, Sharpless 229

IC 405 (also known as the Flaming Star Nebula, SH 2-229, or Caldwell 31) is an emission and reflection nebula in the constellation Auriga north of the celestial equator, surrounding the bluish, irregular variable star AE Aurigae. It shines at magnitude +6.0. Its celestial coordinates are RA 05^h 16.2^m dec +34° 28′. It is located near the emission nebula IC 410, the open clusters M38 and M36, and the K-class star Iota Aurigae.

The nebula measures approximately 37.0' x 19.0', and lies about 1,500 light-years away from Earth. It is believed that the proper motion of the central star can be traced back to the Orion's Belt area. The nebula is about 5 light-years across.

Gallery

• 
  Amateur astronomer photo of the Flaming Star Nebula with Celestron C9.25 and Hyperstar, ZWO2600MC Pro camera
• 
  Amateur picture taken with a Canon R6 DSLR and a 110mm ED refractor of the Flaming Star nebula around AE Aurigae
• 
  Amateur photo of the Flaming Star Nebula taken with an AT72ED II telescope and ZWO ASI1600MM Pro camera—9 hours 30 minutes of total exposure in HaRGB.

  

  Stellar Embers and Ashes - Flaming Star Nebula (IC 405), Auriga. captured using Skywatcher Quattro 200P, ASI294MM Pro using Sii, Ha and Oiii filter. Total 7 hours from Bortle 9

• 
  White light image of the Flaming Star Nebula showing the "smoke" of the reflection nebula.

See also

• Auriga (Chinese astronomy)
• Caldwell catalogue
• Cosmic dust
• List of largest nebulae

Sources

• Pasachoff, Jay M. (2000). "Atlas of the Sky". Stars and Planets. New York, NY: Peterson Field Guides. p. 578. ISBN 0-395-93432-X.
• Eicher, David J. (1988). The Universe from Your Backyard: A Guide to Deep-Sky Objects from Astronomy Magazine. AstroMedia (Kalmbach Publishing Company). ISBN 0-521-36299-7.

External links

• Media related to IC 405 at Wikimedia Commons
• "IC 405". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg.
• "NED results for object IC 0405". NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. National Aeronautics and Space Administration / Infrared Processing and Analysis Center.
• Frommert, Harmut. "IC 405". Spider. Students for the Exploration and Development of Space.
• IC 405 on WikiSky: DSS2, SDSS, GALEX, IRAS, Hydrogen α, X-Ray, Astrophoto, Sky Map, Articles and images
• "Flaming Star Nebula (IC 405, SH 2-229, Caldwell 31) in Auriga". Constellation Guide. 2 April 2011.
• "IC405 The Flaming star nebula in SL-RGB". starcanvas.org. 15 October 2015.