IC 405, IC 410 

and IC 417

IC 405 (also known as the Flaming Star Nebula, SH 2-229, or Caldwell 31) is an emission and reflection nebula in the constellation Auriga north of the celestial equator, surrounding the bluish, irregular variable star AE Aurigae. It shines at magnitude +6.0.  The nebula is located near the emission nebula IC 410, the open clusters M38 and M36, and the K-class star Iota Aurigae.


The nebula, shown here in the light of the hydrogen emission line H-alpha at a wavelength of 656 nm, measures approximately 37.0' x 19.0', and lies about 1,500 light-years away from Earth. It is believed that the proper motion of the central star can be traced back to the Orion's Belt area. The nebula is about 5 light-years across.

Flaming star nebula (IC 405), 21 November 2025, Kempen, 

William Optics APO 110 mm, f/7, H-alpha filter, ASI1600mm pro, gain 139, T = -10C, 9480 sec. Image processing with PixInsight V.1.9

IC 410, also known as “Tadpole Nebula” is another emission nebula, including  the Open Stellar Cluster NGC 1893 in Auriga in the Northern Sky. IC 410 was discovered by Max Wolf in 1892.


IC 417, finally,  is another emission nebula in Auriga. It is part of the Aur OB2 association, located nearby to NGC 1931 and the nebula is located on the near side of the Perseus arm of the galaxy. IC 417 has an estimated age of 10 million years. The nebula is home to 710 potential young stellar objects.  It is thought that it truly contains hundreds of thousands of newly-formed stars. IC 417 was also discovered by Max Wolf in 1892. IC 417 is visually nearby to the open cluster Stock 8, which it surrounds.


In December 2025, I used the Canon Telelens (f = 200 mm) in combination with the ASI 1600 mm pro to obtain a rather large FOV image of all three nebulae IC 401, IC 410 and IC 410 in the light of Hydrogen alpha.

Flaming star nebula (IC 405), Tadpole Nebula (IC 410), and Spider Nebulo (IC 417), 11 December 2025, Kempen, 

Canon EF 70-200 mm f/4L USM (f= 200 mm), H-alpha filter, ASI1600mm pro, gain 139, T = -10C, 6120 sec. 

Image processing with PixInsight V.1.9