Star-forming nebula (H II region)
WISE G311.034+00.379
Hydrogen glowing round newborn massive stars — these trace the spiral arms.
Measured
- Distance
- about 18,265 light-years
How far, from the Sun
About 18,300 light-years. To cross it:
- Light18,300 years
- Voyager 1's speed325 million years
- Driving at 100 km/h197 billion years
Voyager 1 at the speed it moved outward over the year to 2026-10-25 (JPL Horizons). Driving: nonstop, never refuelling.
Facts
- distance estimated from how fast its gas moves (a kinematic distance, uncertain by about a thousand light years)
- About 5 light-years across in infrared.
Where this comes from
- H II regions: Anderson et al. 2014, ApJS 212, 1 (the WISE Catalog of Galactic H II Regions), via the VizieR catalogue access tool, CDS, Strasbourg (DOI 10.26093/cds/vizier).
Every catalogue Ouranos draws is credited on the credits page.