Bright Nebula Observing List: Emission and Reflection Nebulae

Observe 60 nebulae for Silver, 100 for Gold

• Silver level: observe at least 60 nebulae on the list. Negative observations do not count.
• Gold level: attempt at least 100. Up to five may be negative, each tried on two nights or more, with a description of the method and a sketch of the star field.
• Imaging: image 100 for the Gold level. Visual and imaging can be done at the same time, but only one pin is given.
• The League says an 8-inch or larger telescope is needed. Go-to telescopes and remote telescopes you control are allowed.
• Log the site and sky conditions, equipment, magnification and any filter, your estimate of the nebula's brightness on the Lynds scale of 1 to 6, and a description or sketch.

The full Bright Nebula list, in the League's order, with a page for each object

Sort any column, or type a name or constellation. The type buttons above the map also filter this table. Best is the month the object is highest at 9 pm. Also on lists the other observing lists the object belongs to, so one observation can count toward more than one program where the League allows it.

122 of the 205 are best in winter: plan the list by month

Each bar counts the objects highest in the sky at 9 pm in that month. An object is also well placed in the month before, late in the evening, and the month after, early in the evening.

46 of the 205 are on another list you may already be working

• Herschel II: 20 of the 205
• Caldwell: 15 of the 205
• Herschel 400: 9 of the 205
• Open Cluster: 7 of the 205
• Messier: 7 of the 205
• Binocular Messier: 7 of the 205
• Southern Sky Telescopic: 6 of the 205
• Deep Sky Binocular: 4 of the 205
• Urban: 4 of the 205
• Southern Skies Binocular: 1 of the 205

The published list is longer than the program page says

The League's program page says 150 nebulae; the list it now publishes has 205 entries. A few are one nebula listed twice under different numbers, such as the three parts of the Eastern Veil. This page follows the published list and its numbering, so the No. column matches the League's checklist.

53 entries are nebulae in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, too far south to see from most of the United States, and those link to the page for their galaxy. They let southern observers finish the program.

More Astronomical League observing programs on Go Astronomy

• Herschel II: 400 more of William Herschel's objects, after the Herschel 400
• Binocular Messier: any 50 Messier objects with binoculars
• Urban: 100 objects for light-polluted city skies
• Globular Cluster: any 50 of 190 globular clusters, with their concentration class
• Open Cluster: 100 or 125 open clusters, sketched and classified
• Planetary Nebula: 110 planetary nebulae, from the Ring to 16th-magnitude Abell shells
• Deep Sky Binocular: 60 non-Messier objects for binoculars, the step after the Binocular Messier
• Southern Skies Binocular: any 50 of 73 southern objects with binoculars
• Southern Sky Telescopic: 50 of 100 southern objects, most south of -48°
• Messier objects: the Messier Observing Program, the League's first, since 1967
• Caldwell objects: the Caldwell Observing Program
• Herschel 400: the step before Herschel II