About NGC 2404
NGC 2404 is an uncommon nebula. It sits in the constellation Cam.
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.
Uncommon nebula 26 EP
NGC 2404
RA 114.2780° · Dec 65.6108° · openngc
Score breakdown
· 3 badgesUncommon 34 pts → Rare
- Star-forming region +14
- Nebula +8
- Never sets (northern circumpolar) +4
Total score 26
8 more points to reach Rare.
Badges
- Nebula · +8
- Star-forming region · +14
- Never sets (northern circumpolar) · +4
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 Camelopardalis.
- 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 January — 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 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
- Cam
- dso type
- HII
- name
- NGC 2404
How to see it
Look for NGC 2404 in the constellation Cam.
Like any astronomical target, NGC 2404 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 2404 is an uncommon nebula
NGC 2404 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 3 science badges — Nebula, Star-forming region 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.