About NGC 6790
NGC 6790 is a common nebula. It sits in the constellation Aql and shines at apparent magnitude 10.5.
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 6790
RA 290.7371° · Dec 1.5133° · 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 10.5 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Aquila.
- 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 July — 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
- Aql
- dso type
- PN
- mag
- 10.5
- name
- NGC 6790
- radial velocity kms
- 42
- redshift
- 0.0001
- size arcmin
- 0.12
How to see it
Look for NGC 6790 in the constellation Aql. At apparent magnitude 10.5, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.
Like any astronomical target, NGC 6790 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 6790 is a common nebula
NGC 6790 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.