About IC 444
IC 444 is an uncommon nebula. It sits in the constellation Gem and shines at apparent magnitude 7.03.
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.
Uncommon nebula 27 EP
IC 444
RA 94.6417° · Dec 23.3133° · openngc
Score breakdown
· 4 badgesUncommon 34 pts → Rare
- Reflection nebula +10
- Nebula +8
- Bright deep-sky object +6
- On the zodiac +3
Total score 27
7 more points to reach Rare.
Badges
- Nebula · +8
- Bright deep-sky object · +6
- Reflection nebula · +10
- On the zodiac · +3
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
- How to spot it. At magnitude 7 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Gemini.
- 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 December — 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.
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
- Gem
- dso type
- RfN
- mag
- 7.03
- name
- IC 444
- size arcmin
- 8
How to see it
Look for IC 444 in the constellation Gem. At apparent magnitude 7.03, it is an easy target for binoculars.
Like any astronomical target, IC 444 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 IC 444 is an uncommon nebula
IC 444 scores 27 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 7 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 4 science badges — Nebula, Bright deep-sky object, Reflection nebula and On the zodiac — 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.