The sky around vdB 85 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 85 is a reflection nebula in Monoceros, 5,480 light-years away
vdB 85 (NGC 2282, IC 2172, Ced 87) is a reflection nebula in the constellation Monoceros, 5,480 light-years away. spans 3′ of sky, about 4.8 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 85 is vdB 85 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 289120, B2N(E), magnitude 10.3. He rated it moderate in brightness and intermediate in color.
Finding vdB 85 from Procyon
vdB 85 lies 13.7° west of Procyon, the magnitude 0.4 star. A fist held at arm's length covers about 10°.
vdB 85 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 northern hemisphere and south to about 89°S.
vdB 85 is 5,480 light-years away
The light seen from vdB 85 tonight left it about 5,480 years ago. It ranks 149 of 158 by distance among the Van den Bergh nebulae. Distance source: Gaia DR3, Hunt and Reffert 2023.
