IC 405

Emission Nebula, Auriga

December 2007. Cave Creek Canyon Observatory, Arizona Sky Village

IC 405 (also known as the Flaming Star Nebula, SH 2-229, or Caldwell 31) is an emission and reflection nebula in the constellation Auriga, surrounding the bluish star AE Aurigae. It shines at magnitude +6.0. Its celestial coordinates are RA 05h 16.2m dec +34° 28′. It surrounds the irregular variable star AE Aurigae and is located near the emission nebula IC 410, the open clusters M38 and M36, and the K-class star Iota Aurigae. 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.

Telescope: Astro Physics 155EDF f7
Mount: Astro Physics 1200GTO
Camera: SBIG STL-11000M
Guider: SBIG STL-Remote OAG

H-alpha: 37×20 mins = 740 mins

Total Imaging Time: 12h 20m

Data Imaged remotely over 3 nights during December 2007.
Data acquisition & Processing by David Churchill.