Anomaly nebula 88 EP

Helix Nebula

RA 337.4107° · Dec -20.8373° · openngc

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Score breakdown

· 9 badges

88 pts · Anomaly

Anomaly 120 pts → Mythic

The Helix Nebula (the Eye of God) +24
Planetary nebula (a dying star's shell) +12
Its dying star is still visible +12
Coming towards us +10
Nebula +8
Has a proper name +8
Bright deep-sky object +6
Big on the sky +5
On the zodiac +3

Total score 88

32 more points to reach Mythic.

Badges

Nebula · +8
Bright deep-sky object · +6
Has a proper name · +8
Planetary nebula (a dying star's shell) · +12
On the zodiac · +3
Big on the sky · +5
Coming towards us · +10
Its dying star is still visible · +12
The Helix Nebula (the Eye of God) · +24

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 7.3 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Aquarius.
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 August — that's when to go looking.

Could we get there?

Verdict. Hopelessly far for any craft humanity can build today.

Getting there

Aboard Voyager 1. ≈ 11.5 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
Fastest probe ever. ≈ 1 million years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.

Properties

central star mag: 13.5
constellation: Aqr
dist ly: 655.4582
dso type: PN
mag: 7.3
name: Helix Nebula
named: yes
radial velocity kms: -15
size arcmin: 16.33

Nearby objects

About Helix Nebula

Helix Nebula is an anomaly nebula. It lies about 655.5 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Aqr and shines at apparent magnitude 7.3.

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 Helix Nebula in the constellation Aqr. At apparent magnitude 7.3, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, Helix Nebula 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 Helix Nebula is an anomaly nebula

Helix Nebula scores 88 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the anomaly tier. Another 32 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 9 science badges — Nebula, Bright deep-sky object, Has a proper name, Planetary nebula (a dying star's shell), On the zodiac, Big on the sky, 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.