Nebula
Sh2-120
H II region
A cloud of ionised hydrogen (H II region): a stellar nursery glowing in the ultraviolet light of the young, hot O and B stars inside it. The distance follows from the gas’s radial velocity and the Galaxy’s rotation curve (kinematic method).
| Type | Nebula |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Cygnus |
| Distance | 8,350 pc (27.2 thousand ly) · estimated |
| Diameter | 55.2 ly |
| WISE name | G090.213+02.040 |
| Catalogue status | Known H II region |
| Source | WISE H II Catalog v3.0 |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 21h 03m 42.5s |
| Declination (J2000) | +49° 51′ 57″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 40° S. North of latitude 40° N it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in August, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 27 thousand years ago. At that time Homo sapiens was spreading out of Africa; there was no farming yet. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 483 million years.