c55 — Hubble · Caldwell 55 · Bruce Balick (University of Washington), Jason Alexander (University of Washington), Arsen Hajian (U.S. Naval Observatory), Yervant Terzian (Cornell University), Mario Perinotto (University of Florence, Italy), Patrizio Patriarchi (Arcetri Observatory, Italy), NASA/ESA

Saturn Nebula

Nebula in Aquarius · 5,200 light-years

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Type	Nebula
Constellation	Aquarius
Right ascension	21h 04m 11s
Declination	−11° 22′
Object distance	5,200 light-years
Apparent magnitude	8
Apparent size	0.7′ (arc-minutes)
Approx. true diameter	1.1 light-years across
Also known as	C55 · NGC 7009

Caldwell 55, popularly known as the Saturn Nebula, is a nebula (NGC 7009) in Aquarius — a luminous cloud of interstellar gas and dust. It appears as number 55 in the Caldwell catalogue, Sir Patrick Moore's 1995 list of 109 bright deep-sky objects for amateur astronomers. It spans roughly 0.7 arc-minutes on the sky. At about magnitude 8, it shows up in a small backyard telescope.

Although it appears about 0.7′ wide on the sky, its real span is roughly 1.1 light-years — the difference is a measure of how far away it lies.

Observing Saturn Nebula

Saturn Nebula lies in the constellation Aquarius and is best placed in the evening sky around August. Its maximum altitude above the horizon depends on your latitude. Lying near the celestial equator, it can be seen from both hemispheres. 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