GJMultimedia - Astronomy

DEEP SKY

	Gavin James
	07808 480621
	gavin@gjmultimedia.co.uk

IC 410 - The Tadpole Nebula

The Tadpole Nebula is an emission nebula, consisting of ionised hydrogen (II) gas, located in the constellation of Auriga. It is associated with the open cluster NGC 1893, which is embedded within the nebula. The nebula itself is thought to have been given its original shape from the radiation and stellar winds released by the stellar cluster, and is also powered by the ultraviolet light emitted by it.

NGC 1893 is a site of new star formation, believed to have been formed only about 4 million years ago, which contains many young, hot stars. Some of these stars can be detected by their radiation only, as dark molecular clouds or absorption nebulae exist between us and the Tadpole Nebula, obscuring them from view.

IC 410 gets its name from the two distinctly shaped clouds of gas and dust that it contains, known as the ‘tadpoles’. These tadpoles are approximately ten light years long and are potential sites of ongoing star formation. The tadpoles within the nebula can be seen to point away from the centre – this is also thought to be because of the stellar winds and radiation pressure, similar to the effect that our Sun has on a comet’s ion tail. The gas that the tadpoles consist of is thought to be both denser and cooler than that in the main nebula, and it is believed by some scientists that this material is the remnants of the formation of the stellar cluster, NGC 1893. However, very little is known for certain concerning IC 410, which has led to significant disagreement between sources.

Research Assistant: Ellie Debs

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The Tadpole Nebula
IC 410
Emission Nebula
Auriga
12,000 light years
+10.0
30 x 40 arcminutes
140 light years

December
5h 23m 46s
+33º 31’ 50”
Celestron EdgeHD 800 with 0.7x Reducer
10 nights, November & December 2017
Hα = 33 x 1800s
OIII = 30 x 1800s
RGB = 15 x 180s each
33 hours 45 minutes