Galactic Nebula IC 2120

IC 2120: H-II region, no PN in Auriga; 500 mm Cassegrain f=3625mm / f7.2; SBIG STL11K; 105+3*30 min LRGB; Bernese Highlands; © 2011 Radek Chromik

Object Description

The French astronomer Camille Guillaume Bigourdan discovered a small, faint nebula on 8th December 1890. John L. E. Dreyer included it 1910 in his «Second Index Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars» under the designation IC 2120. [196, 315]

IC 2120: Same image section in four different photographic surveys [147]

IC 2120 caused a bit of confusion: The «Strasbourg-ESO Catalog of Galactic Planetary Nebulae» published in 1992 lists IC 2120 as a possible planetary nebula under the designation PK 169-0.1. [141] In the 2001 edition of the same IC is listed as a misclassified PN with the note «compact H-II region». [146] Simbad also offers this version. [145] The «NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database» (NED) explains IC 2120 as a sighting of comet 113P/Spitaler, which was mistakenly mistaken for a nebula. [194] Sky Safari 6 thinks of IC 2120 that it is a non-existent deep sky object. [149] Even Wikipedia disagrees: The German edition brings the version of erroneous comets and references NED, while the French edition lists IC 2120 as a compact H-II region and is based on Simbad. [363, 364]

As you can see in the pictures, the small, round shape of IC 2120 with the star in the middle really looks like a planetary nebula, but it is a compact H-II region. Simbad gives 1388 parsecs (about 4500 light years) as the distance. [145] Other sources give 0.9 kpc to 1.86 kpc. [365]

Revised+Historic NGC/IC, Version 22/9, © Dr. Wolfgang Steinicke [277]
DesignationIC 2120
TypeNF
Right Ascension (J2000.0)05h 19m 10.3s
Declination (J2000.0)+38° 11' 06"
Dreyer DescriptioneF
Identification, RemarksComet Spitaler 1890!

Finder Chart

The galactic nebula IC 2120 is located in the constellation Auriga, which is best visible from September to April.

Finder Chart Galactic Nebula IC 2120
Galactic Nebula IC 2120 in constellation Auriga. Charts created using SkySafari 6 Pro and STScI Digitized Sky Survey. Limiting magnitudes: Constellation chart ~6.5 mag, DSS2 close-ups ~20 mag. [149, 160]

Visual Observation

Description pending ...

More Objects Nearby (±15°)

References