The sky around vdB 72 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.
vdB 72 is a reflection nebula in Monoceros, 2,910 light-years away
vdB 72 (NGC 2182, LBN 998, Ced 68) is a reflection nebula in the constellation Monoceros, 2,910 light-years away. spans 3′ of sky, about 2.5 light-years across. It is a telescope object, 6 inches or larger, and it is highest in the evening sky in February.
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.
vdB 72 is vdB 72 in the Van den Bergh catalog of reflection nebulae
Sidney van den Bergh listed it in his catalog of reflection nebulae (1966), drawn from the Palomar Sky Survey. He chose nebulae lit by a star bright enough to appear in the Bonner and Cordoba star catalogs. The star that lights it is HD 42261, B3/5II/III, magnitude 9.4. He rated it very bright in brightness and blue in color.
Finding vdB 72 from Sirius
vdB 72 lies 13.6° northwest of Sirius, the magnitude -1.4 star. A fist held at arm's length covers about 10°.
vdB 72 is highest in the evening in February
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 84°N.
vdB 72 is 2,910 light-years away
The light seen from vdB 72 tonight left it about 2,910 years ago. It ranks 111 of 158 by distance among the Van den Bergh nebulae. Distance source: Mon R2 VLBA parallax, Dzib et al. 2016 (893 pc).
