Object Description

IC 405 was discovered on March 21, 1892 by the German-American astronomer Johann Martin Schäberle and in the same year was spotted by the German astronomer Max Wolf and in October by the Hungarian astronomer Eugen von Gothard.

IC 405 is an emission and reflection nebula. The strong UV radiation of the irregular Orion variable, about six magnitudes bright star star AE Aurigae (HR 1712, HIP 24575) is responsible for the glow. This star, however, had not formed in the nebula. AE Aurigae is a runaway star, which is noticeable due to its high space movement of 113 km/s. This could be traced back to the Orion Nebula, from which it is about 60 degrees separated today. About 2.6 million years ago, a near collision of two binary star systems caused AE Aurigae to be ejected from the trapezoid cluster in the Orion Nebula. Other stars that are believed to have originated from this event are μ Columbae and 53 Arietis. The binary star system ι Orionis could have been the other half of this near-collision. According to another theory, a supernova explosion could have been responsible for this. ^{[196, 298]} The distance from the star AE Aurigae is given as 405 to 548 parsecs (approx. 1300 to 1800 light years). ^[145]

Finder Chart

IC 405 is located in the southern part of the Auriga pentagon. The best observation time is September to April.