Nebula
Blue Snowball
Planetary nebula · C22 · NGC 7662
Planetary nebula in Andromeda
Photo: Howard Bond (ST ScI) and NASA/ESA · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
NGC 7662 is a planetary nebula located in the northern constellation Andromeda. It is known as the Blue Snowball Nebula, Snowball Nebula, and Caldwell 22. This nebula was discovered October 6, 1784 by the German-born English astronomer William Herschel. In the New General Catalogue it is described as a "magnificent planetary or annular nebula, very bright, pretty small in angular size, round, blue, variable nucleus". The object has an apparent visual magnitude of 8.3 and spans an angular size of 32″ × 28″. Parallax measurements give a distance estimate of 5,730 ± 340 ly (1,757 ± 103 pc).
Description from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
In your sky
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Key facts
Distance
~3,200 light-years
Apparent mag.
+9
Apparent size
0.3′
Best seen with
Binoculars
Catalogue
C22 · NGC 7662
Did you know
- Listed as Caldwell 22 in the Caldwell catalogue, also known as NGC 7662.
- Found in the constellation Andromeda.
- Within reach of ordinary binoculars under dark skies.
