About IC 5132
IC 5132 is a common nebula. It sits in the constellation Cep.
A nebula: a cloud of interstellar gas and dust, thinner than the best vacuum ever made in a laboratory yet spanning light-years.
Common nebula 18 EP
IC 5132
RA 325.6675° · Dec 66.1684° · openngc
Score breakdown
· 3 badgesCommon 22 pts → Uncommon
- Nebula +8
- Diffuse nebula +6
- Never sets (northern circumpolar) +4
Total score 18
4 more points to reach Uncommon.
Badges
- Nebula · +8
- Diffuse nebula · +6
- Never sets (northern circumpolar) · +4
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 Cepheus.
- Never sets. So far north that from Britain, Canada or northern Europe it never dips below the horizon — it is up every clear night of the year.
- 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. 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
- Cep
- dso type
- Neb
- name
- IC 5132
How to see it
Look for IC 5132 in the constellation Cep.
Like any astronomical target, IC 5132 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 5132 is a common nebula
IC 5132 scores 18 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 4 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 3 science badges — Nebula, Diffuse nebula and Never sets (northern circumpolar) — 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.