IC 405

This article is about the nebula in Auriga and is not to be confused with Flame nebula NGC 2024, a nebula in Orion.

IC 405 (also known as the Flaming Star Nebula, SH 2-229, or Caldwell 31) is an emission and reflection nebula^[1] in the constellation Auriga north of the celestial equator, surrounding the bluish, irregular variable star AE Aurigae. It shines at magnitude +6.0. Its celestial coordinates are RA 05^h 16.2^m dec +34° 28′.^[2] It is located near the emission nebula IC 410, the open clusters M38 and M36, and the K-class star Iota Aurigae.

IC 405

Emission nebula
reflection nebula
IC 405 captured with Ha, OIII, amd SII narrowband filters and processed in the Hubble Palette
Observation data: J2000 epoch
Right ascension	05h 16m 05s
Declination	+34° 27′ 49″
Distance	1500 ly
Apparent magnitude (V)	+6.0?
Apparent dimensions (V)	37′ × 10′
Constellation	Auriga
Physical characteristics
Radius	2.5 ly
Designations	Flaming Star Nebula, Caldwell 31, Sharpless 229
See also: Lists of nebulae

The nebula measures approximately 37.0' x 19.0', and lies about 1,500 light-years away from Earth.^[2] It is believed that the proper motion of the central star can be traced back to the Orion's Belt area.^[2] The nebula is about 5 light-years across.^[1]

Gallery

• 
  Amateur astronomer photo of the Flaming Star Nebula with Celestron C9.25 and Hyperstar, ZWO2600MC Pro camera
• 
  Amateur picture taken with a Canon R6 DSLR and a 110mm ED refractor of the Flaming Star nebula around AE Aurigae
• 
  Amateur photo of the Flaming Star Nebula taken with an AT72ED II telescope and ZWO ASI1600MM Pro camera -- 9 hours 30 minutes of total exposure in HaRGB.
• 
  White light image of the Flaming Star Nebula showing the "smoke" of the reflection nebula.

See also

• Auriga (Chinese astronomy)
• Caldwell catalogue
• Cosmic dust
• List of largest nebulae