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Planetary nebula

The Spirograph Nebula

Also IC 418

Open in OuranosCompare its size

A planetary nebula in Lepus, known as the Spirograph Nebula, with remarkable textures weaving through it.

Measured

Distance
4,443 light-years
Size
about 0.34 light-years across (approximate)
Constellation
Lepus
Position (J2000)
RA 5h 27m 28s, Dec −12.70°

How far, from the Sun

4,440 light-years. To cross it:

  • Light4,440 years
  • Voyager 1's speed78.9 million years
  • Driving at 100 km/h48 billion years

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

Facts

  • Its central star is heating up on its way to becoming a white dwarf: about 15 to 42 K a year, modelled from 130 years of its spectra (Zijlstra & Parker 2025).
  • Its distance comes from a Gaia parallax: the tiny yearly shift in its position as the Earth circles the Sun.

Where this comes from

  • Gaia DR3 parallax 0.7341 ± 0.0290 mas of the central star, Gaia DR3 2985789113026163584 (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.