NGC 2023
| Reflection and emission nebula | |
|---|---|
| NGC 2023 | |
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| NGC 2023 (bluish, left above the center of the image) near the Horsehead Nebula (dark in front of an orange background, right below the center) in an image from the Digitized Sky Survey 2. | |
| Constellation | Orion |
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Position equinox : J2000.0 |
|
| Right ascension | 05h 41m 38.4s |
| declination | −02 ° 15 ′ 33 ″ |
| Further data | |
| Angular expansion |
10 ′ × 10 ′ |
| distance |
450 pc |
| history | |
| discovery |
Wilhelm Herschel |
| Date of discovery |
January 6, 1785 |
| Catalog names | |
| NGC 2023 • IRAS 05391-0217 • LBN 954, VDB 52, [XT95] 6, GN 05.39.1.02, RAFGL 806, [NYS99] C-23, RX J0541.8-0217, [RK68] 38, H IV 24 | |
| Aladin previewer | |
NGC 2023 is a reflection and emission nebula in the constellation Orion in the northern sky . It is about 1,500 light years away from the Sun and is 4 light years in size. The object was discovered by Wilhelm Herschel on January 6, 1785 .
Viewed from Earth , it is one of the brightest sources of excited molecular hydrogen ; due to its size and proximity, it is also apparently the largest. The nebula is excited to glow by a massive B star ( HD 37903 ), the brightest member of a young star cluster. The nebula itself is part of the much larger Molecular Cloud Barnard 33 or Lynds 1630, which also forms the nearby Horsehead Nebula .
Web links
- astronews.com: Picture of the day August 1, 2011