About IC 4701
IC 4701 is a rare nebula. It sits in the constellation Sgr.
A nebula: a cloud of interstellar gas and dust, thinner than the best vacuum ever made in a laboratory yet spanning light-years.
Rare nebula 37 EP
IC 4701
RA 274.1489° · Dec -16.6483° · openngc
Score breakdown
· 5 badgesRare 50 pts → Epic
- Bigger on the sky than the full Moon +12
- Nebula +8
- Toward the galactic centre +8
- Diffuse nebula +6
- On the zodiac +3
Total score 37
13 more points to reach Epic.
Badges
- Nebula · +8
- Diffuse nebula · +6
- Toward the galactic centre · +8
- On the zodiac · +3
- Bigger on the sky than the full Moon · +12
Trivia
What it actually is
- What it actually is. A nebula: a cloud of interstellar gas and dust, thinner than the best vacuum ever made in a laboratory yet spanning light-years.
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. Nebular colours are chemistry made visible — red for hydrogen, teal for oxygen, blue where starlight is merely scattered.
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
- Neb
- name
- IC 4701
- size arcmin
- 60
How to see it
Look for IC 4701 in the constellation Sgr.
Like any astronomical target, IC 4701 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 4701 is a rare nebula
IC 4701 scores 37 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 13 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 5 science badges — Nebula, Diffuse nebula, Toward the galactic centre, On the zodiac and Bigger on the sky than the full Moon — 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.