Nebula
Sh2-302
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 is measured from the parallax of masers in the region.
| Type | Nebula |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Puppis |
| Distance | 1,680 pc (5.5 thousand ly) |
| Diameter | 46.4 ly |
| WISE name | G232.594+00.851 |
| Catalogue status | Known H II region |
| Source | WISE H II Catalog v3.0 |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 7h 31m 34.8s |
| Declination (J2000) | −17° 00′ 59″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 73° N. South of latitude 73° S it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in January, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 5,479 years ago. At that time the first farming villages were being founded; there was no writing yet. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 97 million years.