About NGC 6914
NGC 6914 is a common nebula. It sits in the constellation Cyg.
A reflection nebula. It produces no light at all; it is dust catching the glare of a nearby star and scattering it back at us.
Common nebula 18 EP
NGC 6914
RA 306.1804° · Dec 42.4826° · openngc
Score breakdown
· 2 badgesCommon 22 pts → Uncommon
- Reflection nebula +10
- Nebula +8
Total score 18
4 more points to reach Uncommon.
Badges
- Nebula · +8
- Reflection nebula · +10
Trivia
What it actually is
- What it actually is. A reflection nebula. It produces no light at all; it is dust catching the glare of a nearby star and scattering it back at us.
Find it in the sky
- Where to look. You'll find it in the constellation Cygnus.
- Northern sky. It rides the northern half of the sky — an easier target the further north you are.
- 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. It looks blue for exactly the reason Earth's sky is blue: fine dust scatters short blue wavelengths far more efficiently than long red ones.
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
- Cyg
- dso type
- RfN
- name
- NGC 6914
- size arcmin
- 3
How to see it
Look for NGC 6914 in the constellation Cyg.
Like any astronomical target, NGC 6914 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 6914 is a common nebula
NGC 6914 scores 18 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 4 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 2 science badges — Nebula and Reflection nebula — 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.