About NGC 6559
NGC 6559 is an uncommon nebula. It sits in the constellation Sgr.
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 30 EP
NGC 6559
RA 272.4869° · Dec -24.1064° · openngc
Score breakdown
· 5 badgesUncommon 34 pts → Rare
- Nebula +8
- Toward the galactic centre +8
- Diffuse nebula +6
- Big on the sky +5
- On the zodiac +3
Total score 30
4 more points to reach Rare.
Badges
- Nebula · +8
- Diffuse nebula · +6
- Toward the galactic centre · +8
- On the zodiac · +3
- Big on the sky · +5
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 Sagittarius.
- 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 June — 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
- Sgr
- dso type
- Neb
- name
- NGC 6559
- size arcmin
- 15
Nearby objects
How to see it
Look for NGC 6559 in the constellation Sgr.
Like any astronomical target, NGC 6559 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 6559 is an uncommon nebula
NGC 6559 scores 30 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 4 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 5 science badges — Nebula, Diffuse nebula, Toward the galactic centre, On the zodiac and Big on the sky — 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.