c90-1 — Hubble · Caldwell 90 · Howard Bond (STScI) and NASA/ESA

Caldwell 90

Nebula in Carina · 9,500 light-years

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Type	Nebula
Constellation	Carina
Right ascension	9h 21m 25s
Declination	−58° 19′
Object distance	9,500 light-years
Apparent magnitude	9.7
Apparent size	0.2′ (arc-minutes)
Approx. true diameter	0.6 light-years across
Also known as	C90 · NGC 2867

Caldwell 90 is a nebula (NGC 2867) in Carina — a luminous cloud of interstellar gas and dust. It appears as number 90 in the Caldwell catalogue, Sir Patrick Moore's 1995 list of 109 bright deep-sky objects for amateur astronomers. It spans roughly 0.2 arc-minutes on the sky. At about magnitude 9.7, it shows up in a small backyard telescope.

Although it appears about 0.2′ wide on the sky, its real span is roughly 0.6 light-years — the difference is a measure of how far away it lies.

Observing Caldwell 90

Caldwell 90 lies in the constellation Carina and is best placed in the evening sky around February. Its maximum altitude above the horizon depends on your latitude. It is best placed for observers in the southern hemisphere, and sits low for those far north. A small backyard telescope will show it; binoculars may hint at it under dark skies. Note that the listed magnitude is spread across the whole object — diffuse galaxies and nebulae are often harder to see than the number alone suggests, so dark, moonless skies help a great deal.

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Sources

Position, magnitude and angular size from the OpenNGC catalogue (Mattia Verga).
Object identity cross-referenced with SIMBAD (CDS, Strasbourg).
Image credits and the original observation source are linked with each photograph.

Related objects

Orion Nebula — nebula
Ring Nebula — nebula
Eagle Nebula — nebula
Carina Nebula — nebula
Lagoon Nebula — nebula