Friday, Jan 24, 2025

IC 405 (SH 2-229, Caldwell 31) is an emission/reflection nebula in Auriga at about 1,500 light-years known as the Flaming Star Nebula. The nebula measures approximately 37.0' x 19.0', and lies about 1,500 light-years away from Earth. It is believed that the proper motion of the central star can be traced back to the Orion's Belt area. The nebula is about 5 light-years across. IC 410 is located 12,000 lightyears from Earth and is nicknamed the Tadpole Nebula because of the tadpole-shaped clouds of dark dust that appear to be swimming towards the centre. The Tadpole Nebula is a region of ionised hydrogen gas spanning over 100 lightyears across that's carved and sculpted by streams of charged particles called stellar winds emanating from open star cluster NGC 1893.