About IC 5068
IC 5068 is a rare nebula. It sits in the constellation Cyg.
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 34 EP
IC 5068
RA 312.6240° · Dec 42.4777° · openngc
Score breakdown
· 3 badgesRare 50 pts → Epic
- Star-forming region +14
- Bigger on the sky than the full Moon +12
- Nebula +8
Total score 34
16 more points to reach Epic.
Badges
- Nebula · +8
- Star-forming region · +14
- Bigger on the sky than the full Moon · +12
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 Cygnus.
- 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 August — 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
- Cyg
- dso type
- HII
- name
- IC 5068
- size arcmin
- 40
How to see it
Look for IC 5068 in the constellation Cyg.
Like any astronomical target, IC 5068 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 5068 is a rare nebula
IC 5068 scores 34 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 16 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 3 science badges — Nebula, Star-forming region 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.