About Barnard's Merope Nebula
Barnard's Merope Nebula is a rare nebula. It sits in the constellation Tau.
A reflection nebula. It produces no light at all; it is dust catching the glare of a nearby star and scattering it back at us.
Rare nebula 44 EP
Barnard's Merope Nebula
RA 56.5838° · Dec 23.9398° · openngc
Score breakdown
· 6 badgesRare 50 pts → Epic
- Reflection nebula +10
- Coming towards us +10
- Nebula +8
- Has a proper name +8
- Big on the sky +5
- On the zodiac +3
Total score 44
6 more points to reach Epic.
Badges
- Nebula · +8
- Has a proper name · +8
- Reflection nebula · +10
- On the zodiac · +3
- Big on the sky · +5
- Coming towards us · +10
Trivia
What it actually is
- What it actually is. A reflection nebula. It produces no light at all; it is dust catching the glare of a nearby star and scattering it back at us.
Find it in the sky
- Where to look. You'll find it in the constellation Taurus.
- Northern sky. It rides the northern half of the sky — an easier target the further north you are.
- Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around November — that's when to go looking.
Its true colour
- Its true colour. It looks blue for exactly the reason Earth's sky is blue: fine dust scatters short blue wavelengths far more efficiently than long red ones.
What's in a name
- Named. Notable enough to have earned a proper name, not just a catalogue number.
How we came to know it
- The Index Catalogue. The IC was the 1895 and 1908 supplement to the NGC — the first catalogue in history to be filled largely with objects found on photographic plates rather than by eye.
Properties
- constellation
- Tau
- dso type
- RfN
- name
- Barnard's Merope Nebula
- named
- yes
- radial velocity kms
- -44
- size arcmin
- 25.7
How to see it
Look for Barnard's Merope Nebula in the constellation Tau.
Like any astronomical target, Barnard's Merope Nebula is best seen from a dark site away from city lights, and when it is above the horizon depends on your latitude and the time of year. The visibility panel above works out tonight's viewing window for your saved location.
Why Barnard's Merope Nebula is a rare nebula
Barnard's Merope Nebula scores 44 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 6 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 6 science badges — Nebula, Has a proper name, Reflection nebula, On the zodiac, Big on the sky and Coming towards us — each earned for a real, measurable property of the object. Rarity on Spacedle is never random: the more remarkable an object's astrophysics, the more badges it collects, the higher it scores, and the rarer it ranks.