About IC 1274
IC 1274 is a rare nebula. It sits in the constellation Sgr.
An H II region: a cloud of hydrogen being ionised by the ultraviolet flood from hot young stars inside it. Every one is a star factory caught mid-production.
Rare nebula 38 EP
IC 1274
RA 272.4626° · Dec -23.6482° · openngc
Score breakdown
· 5 badgesRare 50 pts → Epic
- Star-forming region +14
- Nebula +8
- Toward the galactic centre +8
- Big on the sky +5
- On the zodiac +3
Total score 38
12 more points to reach Epic.
Badges
- Nebula · +8
- Star-forming region · +14
- Toward the galactic centre · +8
- On the zodiac · +3
- Big on the sky · +5
Trivia
What it actually is
- What it actually is. An H II region: a cloud of hydrogen being ionised by the ultraviolet flood from hot young stars inside it. Every one is a star factory caught mid-production.
Find it in the sky
- Where to look. You'll find it in the constellation Sagittarius.
- Southern sky. It rides the southern half of the sky — an easier target the further south you are.
- Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around June — that's when to go looking.
Its true colour
- Its true colour. That signature crimson is hydrogen-alpha at 656 nanometres — electrons falling back onto protons, one photon at a time.
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
- Sgr
- dso type
- HII
- name
- IC 1274
- size arcmin
- 20
Nearby objects
- Uncommon HD 314031 star · <0.1° away
- Uncommon J1809-2332 pulsar · 0.1° away
- Uncommon IC 1275 nebula · 0.1° away
- Common HD 166191 star · 0.2° away
- Uncommon HD 314027 variable star · 0.2° away
- Uncommon IC 4684 nebula · 0.3° away
- Uncommon IC 4685 nebula · 0.4° away
- Rare HD 165921 variable star · 0.4° away
How to see it
Look for IC 1274 in the constellation Sgr.
Like any astronomical target, IC 1274 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 1274 is a rare nebula
IC 1274 scores 38 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 12 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 5 science badges — Nebula, Star-forming region, Toward the galactic centre, On the zodiac and Big on the sky — 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.