Andromeda
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Star

WR 124

Also Merrill's Star

Open in Ouranos

A runaway Wolf–Rayet star wrapped in the nebula M1-67, the clumpy gas it has shed.

Measured

Distance
about 20,800 light-years (published estimates 19,100–22,840)
Constellation
Sagitta
Position (J2000)
RA 19h 11m 31s, Dec +16.86°

How far, from the Sun

About 20,800 light-years. To cross it:

  • Light20,800 years
  • Voyager 1's speed370 million years
  • Driving at 100 km/h224 billion years

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

Facts

  • The James Webb Space Telescope imaged it and its dusty nebula in June 2022; NASA released the picture in 2023.
  • 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 0.1568 ± 0.0140 mas, Gaia DR3 4513494205567536512 (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.