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IC 405

Emission and reflection nebula in the constellation Auriga

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
1 min read
Source updated January 24, 2026
Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

IC 405 (also known as the Flaming Star Nebula, SH 2-229, or Caldwell 31) is an emission and reflection nebula in the constellation Auriga north of the celestial equator, surrounding the bluish, irregular variable star AE Aurigae. It shines at magnitude +6.0. Its celestial coordinates are RA 05h 16.2m dec +34° 28′. It is located near the emission nebula IC 410, the open clusters M38 and M36, and the K-class star Iota Aurigae.

The nebula measures approximately 37.0' x 19.0', and lies about 1,500 light-years away from Earth. It is believed that the proper motion of the central star can be traced back to the Orion's Belt area. The nebula is about 5 light-years across.

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This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “IC 405”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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