About NGC 2792
NGC 2792 is a common nebula. It sits in the constellation Vel and shines at apparent magnitude 11.6.
A planetary nebula: the shed outer atmosphere of a dying Sun-like star, lit from within by the naked stellar core left behind.
Common nebula 20 EP
NGC 2792
RA 138.1107° · Dec -42.4275° · openngc
Score breakdown
· 2 badgesCommon 22 pts → Uncommon
- Planetary nebula (a dying star's shell) +12
- Nebula +8
Total score 20
2 more points to reach Uncommon.
Badges
- Nebula · +8
- Planetary nebula (a dying star's shell) · +12
Trivia
What it actually is
- What it actually is. A planetary nebula: the shed outer atmosphere of a dying Sun-like star, lit from within by the naked stellar core left behind.
Find it in the sky
- How to spot it. At magnitude 11.6 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Vela.
- 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 February — that's when to go looking.
Its true colour
- Its true colour. Its teal-green comes from doubly-ionised oxygen at 501 nanometres, and its red from hydrogen at 656 — colours no ordinary object on Earth produces.
What's in a name
- A misleading name. 'Planetary nebula' is a 240-year-old mistake. William Herschel coined it in the 1780s because these round greenish discs resembled the planet Uranus he had just discovered. There are no planets involved whatsoever.
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
- Vel
- dso type
- PN
- mag
- 11.6
- name
- NGC 2792
- radial velocity kms
- 14
- redshift
- 0
- size arcmin
- 0.22
How to see it
Look for NGC 2792 in the constellation Vel. At apparent magnitude 11.6, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.
Like any astronomical target, NGC 2792 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 2792 is a common nebula
NGC 2792 scores 20 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 2 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 2 science badges — Nebula and Planetary nebula (a dying star's shell) — 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.