List of largest nebulae

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NGC 604, one of largest nebulae (H II region) is localed in the Triangulum Galaxy (viewed by the Hubble Space Telescope).

Below is a list of the largest nebulae so far discovered, ordered by actual size (a list by angular diameter is listed separately below). This list is prone to change because of inconsistencies between studies, the great distances of nebulae from our stellar neighbourhood, and the constant refinement of technology and engineering. Nebulae have no standardized boundaries, so the measurements are subject to revision. Lastly, scientists are still defining the features and parameters of nebulae. Because of these rapid developments and adjustments, this list might be unreliable.

## Contents

* 1 List
* 2 By angular diameter
* 3 See also
* 4 Notes
* 5 References

## List

List of the largest nebulae  Nebula  | Maximum dimension
(in light-years/parsecs)  | Type  | Notes

|
|
|

LAB Giant Concentration[verification needed]
(coinciding with SSA22 Protocluster)  | 200,000,000 ly (61,000,000 pc)[1] | Complex of LαBs  | Also on record as one of the largest structures in the universe.
NGC 262 Halo Cloud  | 1,300,000 ly (400,000 pc)[2] | H I region | Spiral nebula surrounding NGC 262, which is one of the largest known galaxies.
Leo Ring  | 650,000 ly (200,000 pc)[3] | HVC  |
Magellanic Stream | 600,000 ly (180,000 pc)[4] | complex of HVCs | Connects the Large and Small Magellanic clouds; extends across 180° of the sky.
Lyman-alpha blob 1 | 300,000 ly (92,000 pc)[5] | LαB  | Largest blob in the LAB Giant Concentration[citation needed]
Himiko Gas Cloud | 55,000 ly (17,000 pc)[6] | Intergalactic cloud
(possible LαB)  | One of the most massive lyman-alpha blobs known
HVC 127-41-330 | 20,000 ly (6,100 pc)[7] | HVC  |
Smith's Cloud | 9,800 ly (3,000 pc)[8] | HVC | Extends about 20° of the sky
Tarantula Nebula | 1,895 ly (581 pc)[9][lower-alpha 1] | H II region | Most active starburst region in the Local Group
NGC 604 | 1,520 ly (470 pc)[10][11][lower-alpha 2] | H II region | Located in the Triangulum Galaxy
N44 | 1,000 ly (310 pc)[12] | Emission nebula |
N11 | 1,000 ly (310 pc)[13] | H II region |
NGC 2404 | 940 ly (290 pc)  | H II region | Largest H II region located in the spiral galaxy NGC 2403
NGC 595 | 880 ly (270 pc)[14] | H II region |
NGC 6822 | 838 ly (257 pc)  | H II region |
Gum Nebula | 809–950 ly (248–291 pc)[15][16] | Emission nebula |
Bubble Nebula (NGC 6822) | 758 ly (232 pc)[17][18][19] | H II region |
NGC 6188 | 600 ly (180 pc)  | Emission nebula |
NGC 592 | 590 ly (180 pc)[20][21] | H II region |
N119 | H II region | Peculiar S-shape
Sh2-310  | 531–681 ly (163–209 pc)[22][lower-alpha 3] | H II region | Nebula surrounding VY Canis Majoris, which is one of largest known stars.
Carina Nebula | 460 ly (140 pc)[23] | H II region | Nearest giant H II region to Earth
Dragonfish Nebula | 450 ly (140 pc)[24] | Emission nebula |
RCW 49 | 350 ly (110 pc)[25] | H II region |
Heart Nebula | 330 ly (100 pc)  | H II region |
Westerhout 5 (Soul Nebula) | 330 ly (100 pc)  | H II region |
Henize 70 (N70 or DEM L301)[26] | 300 ly (92 pc)[27] | H II region | The N 70 Nebula, in the Large Magellanic Cloud has a shell structure and is really a bubble in space. It is a "Super Bubble".
Barnard's Loop | 300 ly (92 pc)[28][29] | H II region |
Sh2-54 | 252 ly (77 pc)[30][31] | H II region |
Prawn Nebula | 250 ly (77 pc)[32] | H II region |
NGC 7822 | 150 ly (46 pc)[33] | Emission nebula |
IC 2944 | Emission nebula |
Eagle Nebula | 140 ly (43 pc)[34] | H II region | Part of another diffuse nebula IC 4703.
Rosette Nebula | 130 ly (40 pc)  | H II region |
Lagoon Nebula | 110 ly (34 pc)  | H II region |
NGC 3576 | 100 ly (31 pc)  | Emission nebula |
Veil Nebula | 100 ly (31 pc)  | Supernova remnant |

## By angular diameter

Celestial object  | Angular diameter or size  | Relative size

|
|

Magellanic Stream | over 100°  |
Gum Nebula | 36°  | 1,000 ly
Milky Way | 30° (by 360°)  | 105,700 ly
Serpens-Aquila Rift | 20° by 10°  | 575 ly or more
Canis Major Overdensity | 12° by 12°  |
Smith's Cloud | 11°  |
Large Magellanic Cloud | 10.75° by 9.17°  | Brightest galaxy in the night sky, 0.9 apparent magnitude (V)
Barnard's loop  | 10°  |
Zeta Ophiuchi Sh2-27 nebula  | 10°  |
Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy | 7.5° by 3.6°  |
Coalsack nebula  | 7° by 5°  |
Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex | 4.5° by 6.5°  |
Hyades | 5°30′ | Brightest star cluster in the night sky, 0.5 apparent magnitude (V)
Small Magellanic Cloud | 5°20′ by 3°5′ |
Andromeda Galaxy | 3°10′ by 1°  | About six times the size of the Sun or the Moon. Only the much smaller core is visible without long-exposure photography.
Veil Nebula | 3°  |
Heart Nebula | 2.5° by 2.5°  |
Westerhout 5 | 2.3° by 1.25°  |
Sh2-54 | 2.3°  |
Carina Nebula | 2° by 2°  | Brightest nebula in the night sky, 1.0 apparent magnitude (V)
North America Nebula | 2° by 100′ |
Orion Nebula  | 1°5′ by 1°  |
Sun | 31′27″ - 32′32″  | 30-31 times the maximum value for Venus (orange bar below) / 1887-1952″
Moon | 29′20″ - 34′6″  | 28-32.5 times the maximum value for Venus (orange bar below) / 1760-2046″
Helix Nebula | About 16′ by 28′ |
Spire in Eagle Nebula | 4′40″  | Length is 280″

## See also

* List of largest cosmic structures
* List of largest known stars
* List of largest planets
* List of most massive stars
* List of most massive black holes
* List of largest galaxies

## Notes

1. ↑ distance × sin( diameter_angle ) = 1,895 ly
2. ↑ distance × sin( diameter_angle ) = 1,520 ly
3. ↑ Those measurements are based on an apparent diameter of 480 arcminutes (') plus an assumed distance of 1.5 kpc and the current distance of VY CMa which is about 1.17 kpc as the nebula is sometimes found to have the same distance as VY CMa.

## References

1. ↑ Ravilious, Kate. "Giant "Blob" is Largest Thing in Universe". National Geographic News. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/07/060731-giant-blob.html.
2. ↑ "The New York Times". Distant galaxy found to be largest known. 1987-03-13. https://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/13/us/distant-galaxy-found-to-be-largest-known.html.
3. ↑ "The mysterious Leo giant gas ring explained by a billion year old collision between two galaxies". Canada France Hawaii Telescope. 2010. http://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/en/news/LeoRing/.
4. ↑ COSMOS - The SAO Encyclopedia of Astronomy. Swinburne University of Technology.
5. ↑ "Giant Space Blob Glows from Within". ESO Press Release. 17 August 2011. http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1130/.
6. ↑ Hsu, Jeremy (2009-04-22). "Giant Mystery Blob Discovered Near Dawn of Time". SPACE.com. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/090422-space-blob.html.
7. ↑ Josh Simon (Spring 2005). Dark Matter in Dwarf Galaxies: Observational Tests of the Cold Dark Matter Paradigm on Small Scales (PDF) (PhD thesis). University of California, Berkeley. Bibcode:2005PhDT.........2S. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 13, 2006.
8. ↑ Lockman, Felix J.; Benjamin, Robert A.; Heroux, A. J.; Langston, Glen I. (May 2008). "The Smith Cloud: A High-Velocity Cloud Colliding with the Milky Way". The Astrophysical Journal 679 (1): L21. doi:10.1086/588838. Bibcode: 2008ApJ...679L..21L.
9. ↑ "Results for Tarantula Nebula". http://messier.seds.org/xtra/ngc/n2070.html. "30 Doradus .. 49 kpc +- 3 kpc"
10. ↑ Barba, Rodolfo (2004). "An in-depth analysis of a prototypical giant H II region: NGC 604". HST Proposal ID #10419: 10419. Bibcode: 2004hst..prop10419B.
11. ↑ "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for NGC 604. http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/.
12. ↑ "Roses in the Southern Sky". ESO. 3 November 2003. http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso0332/.
13. ↑ "N11 complex in LMC". astronomy and observation. http://astronomyandobservation.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/n11-complex-in-lmc.html.
14. ↑ "NGC 595: A Great Diffuse Nebula in M33". http://messier.seds.org/more/m033_n595.html.
15. ↑ Sushch, I.; Hnatyk, B.; Neronov, A. (2011). "Modeling of the Vela complex including the Vela supernova remnant, the binary system γ2 Velorum, and the Gum nebula". Astronomy and Astrophysics 525: A154. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201015346. Bibcode: 2011A&A...525A.154S.
16. ↑ "result for Gum 12". Galaxy Map. http://galaxymap.org/cgi-bin/details.py?id=27340&t=hii&s=4_p29.0xp31.0&name=Gum 12.
17. ↑ Karachentsev et al. 2004 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFKarachentsevKarachentsevaHutchmeierMakarov2004 (help)
18. ↑ Karachentsev & Kashibadze 2006 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFKarachentsevKashibadze2006 (help)
19. ↑ Cannon et al. 2006 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFCannonWalterArmusBendo2006 (help)
20. ↑ "NGC 592 NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database Results". http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/?q=byname&out_equinox=J2000.0&of=pre_text&out_csys=Equatorial&omegav=0.73&omegam=0.27&obj_sort=RA or Longitude&img_stamp=YES&objname=NGC 592&corr_z=1&hconst=73&extend=no&list_limit=5.
21. ↑ "Site of Professor C. Seligman: NGC 550 - 599" (in en-US). http://cseligman.com/text/atlas/ngc5a.htm#592.
22. ↑ Sharpless, Stewart (1959). "A Catalogue of H II Regions". The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series 4: 257. doi:10.1086/190049. Bibcode: 1959ApJS....4..257S.
23. ↑ "NGC 3372 - The Eta Carinae Nebula". http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/nebulae/ngc3372.html.
24. ↑ "Dragonfish Coming at You in Infrared". https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/spitzer/multimedia/pia14885.html.
25. ↑ NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: Cosmic Construction Zone RCW 49 (3 June 2004)
26. ↑ "N70. HENIZE 70 – Astrodrudis". https://astrodrudis.com/n70-henize-70/.
27. ↑ "N70 Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud". https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso9948d/.
28. ↑ Wilson, B.A.; Dame, T.M.; Masheder, M.R.W.; Thaddeus, P. (2005). "A uniform CO survey of the molecular clouds in Orion and Monoceros". Astronomy and Astrophysics 430 (2): 523–539. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20035943. Bibcode: 2005A&A...430..523W. http://www.aanda.org/index.php?option=com_article&access=bibcode&Itemid=129&bibcode=2005A%26A...430..523WFUL. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
29. ↑ O'Dell, C.R.; Ferland, G.J.; Porter, R.L.; van Hoof, P.A.M. (2011). "Physical Conditions in Barnard's Loop, Components of the Orion-eridanus Bubble, and Implications for the Warm Ionized Medium Component of the Interstellar Medium". The Astrophysical Journal 733 (1): 9. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/733/1/9. Bibcode: 2011ApJ...733....9O.
30. ↑ Sharpless, Stewart (December 1959). "A Catalogue of H II Regions". Astrophysical Journal Supplement 4: 257. doi:10.1086/190049. Bibcode: 1959ApJS....4..257S.
31. ↑ Reipurth, B. (December 2008). "The Young Cluster NGC 6604 and the Serpens OB2 Association". Handbook of Star Forming Regions, Volume II: The Southern Sky 5: 590. Bibcode: 2008hsf2.book..590R.
32. ↑ "Cosmic Recycling". http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1535/.
33. ↑ Seligman, Courtney. "New General Catalogue objects: NGC 7800 - 7840". http://cseligman.com/text/atlas/ngc78.htm#7822.
34. ↑ "Messier 16". http://messier.seds.org/m/m016.html.

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Nebula

Visible nebula|

* Dark nebula
* Diffuse nebula
* Emission nebula
* Planetary nebula
* Supernova remnant
* Nova remnant
* H II region
* Reflection nebula
* Variable nebula
* Preplanetary nebula

Pre-stellar nebula|

* Giant molecular cloud
* Bok globule
* Evaporating gaseous globule
* Solar nebula

Stellar nebula|

* Nova remnant
* Protoplanetary nebula
* Wolf–Rayet nebula

Post-stellar nebula|

* Planetary nebula
* Supernova remnant
* Pulsar wind nebula
* Supershell

Clouds|

* Interstellar cloud
* Molecular cloud
* Infrared cirrus
* High-velocity cloud
* H I region

Morphology|

* Bipolar nebula
* Pinwheel nebula

Lists|

* Diffuse
* Planetary (PNe)
* Protoplanetary (PPNe)
* Supernova remnants (SNRs)

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