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Rare nebula 48 EP

NGC 6804

RA 292.8975° · Dec 9.2252° · openngc

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
48 pts · Rare
Rare 50 pts → Epic
  • Planetary nebula (a dying star's shell) +12
  • Its dying star is still visible +12
  • Coming towards us +10
  • Nebula +8
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) +6
Total score 48

2 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

  • Nebula · +8
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) · +6
  • Planetary nebula (a dying star's shell) · +12
  • Coming towards us · +10
  • Its dying star is still visible · +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.

Sense of scale

  • In perspective. Far away by human standards, yet still a local address inside the Milky Way's spiral arms.

Find it in the sky

  • How to spot it. At magnitude 12 it is far too faint for the eye: this one belongs to cameras and long exposures, 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.

Could we get there?

  • Verdict. Impossible with our current technology — and the next millennium of it.

Getting there

  • Aboard Voyager 1. ≈ 50.3 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
  • Fastest probe ever. ≈ 4.5 million years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.

Properties

central star mag
14.37
constellation
Aql
dist ly
2863.5294
dso type
PN
mag
12
name
NGC 6804
radial velocity kms
-13
size arcmin
0.58

About NGC 6804

NGC 6804 is a rare nebula. It lies about 2,863.5 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Aql and shines at apparent magnitude 12.

A planetary nebula: the shed outer atmosphere of a dying Sun-like star, lit from within by the naked stellar core left behind.

How to see it

Look for NGC 6804 in the constellation Aql. At apparent magnitude 12, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, NGC 6804 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 6804 is a rare nebula

NGC 6804 scores 48 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 2 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Nebula, Distant (over 1,000 light-years), Planetary nebula (a dying star's shell), Coming towards us and Its dying star is still visible — 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.