About NGC 1973
NGC 1973 is an uncommon nebula. It sits in the constellation Ori and shines at apparent magnitude 7.
A nebula: a cloud of interstellar gas and dust, thinner than the best vacuum ever made in a laboratory yet spanning light-years.
Uncommon nebula 26 EP
NGC 1973
RA 83.7699° · Dec -4.7318° · openngc
Score breakdown
· 4 badgesUncommon 34 pts → Rare
- Nebula +8
- Bright deep-sky object +6
- Diffuse nebula +6
- In Orion's hunting ground +6
Total score 26
8 more points to reach Rare.
Badges
- Nebula · +8
- Bright deep-sky object · +6
- Diffuse nebula · +6
- In Orion's hunting ground · +6
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
- How to spot it. At magnitude 7 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Orion.
- Seen from everywhere. It sits almost on the celestial equator, so it can be seen from essentially anywhere on Earth.
- 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. 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 New General Catalogue. Its NGC number comes from J. L. E. Dreyer's 1888 catalogue, itself built on decades of sky sweeps by William Herschel and his sister Caroline.
Properties
- constellation
- Ori
- dso type
- Neb
- mag
- 7
- name
- NGC 1973
- size arcmin
- 5
Nearby objects
How to see it
Look for NGC 1973 in the constellation Ori. At apparent magnitude 7, it is an easy target for binoculars.
Like any astronomical target, NGC 1973 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 NGC 1973 is an uncommon nebula
NGC 1973 scores 26 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 8 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 4 science badges — Nebula, Bright deep-sky object, Diffuse nebula and In Orion's hunting ground — 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.