Deep sky · Planetary nebula in Draco · NGC 6543
Planetary nebula
Cat's Eye Nebula
The Cat’s Eye Nebula: the first nebula whose light was split into a spectrum — the moment we learned what nebulae are made of.
- Type
- Planetary nebula
- Designations
- NGC 6543
- Constellation
- Draco
- Apparent magnitude
- 8.1
- Apparent size
- 0′ × 0′
- Position (J2000)
- RA 17h 59m · Dec +66° 38′
Discovery
In 1864 William Huggins turned a spectroscope on it and saw bright lines, not a rainbow — proof that this was glowing gas, not a mass of stars.