Object Description

IC 405 was discovered on 21 March 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]

Other objects that seem to belong to the same molecular cloud are: NGC 1931, IC 410 and IC 417. The distance from IC 417 to Earth is about 2.19 kpc, around 7100 light years. The distance from the star AE Aurigae, which is responsible for the flame star nebula IC 405, is given as 405 to 548 parsecs (approx. 1300 to 1800 light years) and is therefore much closer. ^[145] Either the distance information is incorrect, the nebula area is much larger, or it is a matter of different nebulae that lie in the same viewing direction.

Finder Chart

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