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Emission nebula

The Pelican Nebula

Also IC 5070

Open in Ouranos

A glowing cloud next to the North America Nebula, shaped like a pelican.

Measured

Distance
2,593 light-years
Constellation
Cygnus
Position (J2000)
RA 20h 51m 00s, Dec +44.37°

How far, from the Sun

2,590 light-years. To cross it:

  • Light2,590 years
  • Voyager 1's speed46.1 million years
  • Driving at 100 km/h28 billion years

Voyager 1 at the speed it moved outward over the year to 2026-10-25 (JPL Horizons). Driving: nonstop, never refuelling.

Facts

  • It is part of the same cloud as the North America Nebula, split from it by a lane of dark dust.
  • Its distance comes from Gaia parallaxes of the young stars in the complex (Kuhn et al. 2020).

Where this comes from

  • Distance of the North America–Pelican complex, Kuhn et al. 2020, Gaia DR2 (795 ± 25 pc) — the value lib/skySpaceCatalog uses for the North America Nebula
  • 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.