Struve's Lost Nebula
November 30, 2018
Photographer: Greg Parker
Summary Authors: Greg Parker; Jim Foster
Featured above is Struve's Lost Nebula, also referred to as Hind's Variable Nebula, Burnham's Nebula, and NGC1555. It's clearly quite popular if so many names are attached to it. Lying some 400 light years distant in the constellation of Taurus, this reflection nebula was first discovered in 1852 by astronomer John Russell Hind. Other noted astronomers soon confirmed this discovery, however, later in the decade NGC 1555 began to noticeably fade, and by the early 1860s Hind himself could no longer see it. It wasn't until the 20th century that it was realized Hind had actually sighted a variable object. In recent decades, NGC 1555's brightness has been rather stable, so it can be seen now even with mid-sized telescopes.
Photo Details: 65 x 20-minute subs, or nearly 22 hours of data, using the Sky90 MiniWASP array at the New Forest Observatory.