Planetary nebula
NGC 2392
Also Caldwell 39 · Clown-face Nebula
A planetary nebula whose outer ring of filaments looks like a face in a fur hood.
Measured
- Distance
- about 5,983 light-years (published estimates 5,511–6,544)
- Size
- about 0.58 light-years across (approximate)
- Constellation
- Gemini
- Position (J2000)
- RA 7h 29m 11s, Dec +20.91°
How far, from the Sun
About 5,980 light-years. To cross it:
- Light5,980 years
- Voyager 1's speed106 million years
- Driving at 100 km/h64.6 billion years
Voyager 1 at the speed it moved outward over the year to 2026-10-25 (JPL Horizons). Driving: nonstop, never refuelling.
Facts
- NASA dropped an older nickname for it in 2020 and uses its official name, NGC 2392.
- Its distance comes from a Gaia parallax: the tiny yearly shift in its position as the Earth circles the Sun.
How it was found
- William Herschel discovered it in 1787.
Where this comes from
- Gaia DR3 parallax 0.5451 ± 0.0467 mas of the central star, Gaia DR3 865037169677723904 (Gaia Collaboration 2023, A&A 674, A1)
- This research has made use of the SIMBAD database, CDS, Strasbourg, France (Wenger et al. 2000, A&AS 143, 9).
- This research has made use of the VizieR catalogue access tool, CDS, Strasbourg, France (DOI: 10.26093/cds/vizier).
Every catalogue Ouranos draws is credited on the credits page.