NGC 1360 Robin’s Egg Nebula

Capture

Seestar s50 Pro 1040 stacks

Date

9 October 2026

Location

Camden, NSW

Original

1814 × 3282 px

NGC 1360 Robin’s Egg Nebula is a large, faint planetary nebula in the southern constellation of Fornax (the Furnace). It is also known as the Robin’s Egg Nebula, as its oval shape and delicate blue-green colour are reminiscent of a robin’s egg. It lies about 1,500 light-years away and spans roughly 3 light-years. Unlike many planetary nebulae, which have a bright ring or shell, NGC 1360 is a smooth, softly glowing cloud with no sharp edge, a sign that it is relatively old and has spread out over time. At its centre sits a very hot star, around 100,000 K, that has thrown off its outer layers and is on its way to becoming a white dwarf. It is less massive but far hotter than the Sun, and its intense ultraviolet light makes the surrounding gas glow. This central star is a binary: it has a companion, most likely a white dwarf, which orbits it about every 142 days. Under excellent dark-sky conditions, a pair of binoculars will reveal NGC 1360 as a soft, elusive puff of grey light. It will not look like a star, but rather a smooth cloud that fades gently at its edges. A small telescope shows the central star clearly, at about magnitude 11. Apparent magnitude 9.4.

See it in the nebulas gallery