The sky around Eagle Nebula at true scale, north up and east left, with stars to magnitude 8. The circles show the field of a low-power eyepiece and of 10×50 binoculars.
Eagle Nebula is an emission nebula in Serpens, 5,540 light-years away
Eagle Nebula (M16, NGC 6611, LBN 67, MWSC 2886, Sh2-49, RCW 165) is an emission nebula in the constellation Serpens, 5,540 light-years away. It shines at magnitude 6.0 and spans 1.2° × 50′ of sky, about 113 light-years across. It is an easy target in binoculars, and it is highest in the evening sky in August.
Nebula: a cloud of gas and dust. Emission nebulae glow on their own, lit by ultraviolet light from hot young stars; reflection nebulae shine by starlight scattered from dust; dark nebulae block the light behind them.
Eagle Nebula is Sh2-49 in the Sharpless catalog
Stewart Sharpless listed it in his catalog of H II regions (1959), drawn from the red and blue prints of the Palomar Sky Survey. He rated each region's brightness on a scale of 1 to 3; Sh2-49 is bright (class 3 of 3). It is also listed as RCW 165, LBN 67, Cr 375, Mel 198.
Eagle Nebula is RCW 165 in the RCW catalog of southern H-alpha regions
Eagle Nebula lies 6.3° southeast of Sinistra, the magnitude 3.3 star. Three fingers held at arm's length cover about 5°.
Eagle Nebula is highest in the evening in August
The chart gives its height above the horizon at 9 pm through the year, from 60°N to 40°S. It can be seen from the whole southern hemisphere and north to about 76°N, and never sets south of 76°S.
Eagle Nebula is 5,540 light-years away
The light seen from Eagle Nebula tonight left it about 5,540 years ago. It ranks 34 of 109 by distance among the 110 Messier objects. Distance source: Gaia DR3, Hunt and Reffert 2023.
