The Hourglass Nebula
The Hourglass Nebula, MyCn 18, is a young planetary nebula about 8,000 light-years away in the southern constellation Musca: gas shed by a Sun-like star near the end of its life, in two lobes that make an hourglass. Ground-based telescopes saw only a pair of rings; Hubble revealed the hourglass and the intricate 'etchings' in its walls.
When to see it
Best evenings: March to August (southern hemisphere).
Seen from south of about 13° N. Choose your city for tonight’s times and where to look.
“Up” means at least 10° above the horizon while the Sun is at least 12° below it (dark enough for faint nebulae and galaxies). Your location, if you share it, stays on this device.
At a glance
- Distance
- 8,000 light-years [1]
- The light you see left it
- around 6,000 BCE
- Constellation
- Musca
- Position (J2000)
- RA 13h 39m 35s, Dec −67° 23′
- Visible from
- south of about 13° N (farther north it never climbs 10° above the horizon)
- High in the evening (9 pm)
- March to August from mid-southern latitudes
- How to see it
- With a large telescope or a camera
The Hourglass Nebula tonight from four cities
| City | Tonight |
|---|---|
| New York | Always below your horizon here.never rises here |
| Los Angeles | Always below your horizon here.never rises here |
| London | Always below your horizon here.never rises here |
| Sydney | Up all night, best around 4:45 am, look south-east.best 4:45 am, 28° up, south-east |
Tonight in each city’s local time, computed November 8, 2026 with Astronomy Engine (the page refreshes every hour). For your own city, choose it above.
The Hourglass Nebula: the facts
| Also called | MyCn 18 [2] |
|---|---|
| Kind | a young planetary nebula [2] |
| Colors in Hubble's photo | ionized nitrogen (red), hydrogen (green) and doubly ionized oxygen (blue) [2] |
| Made by | a Sun-like star shedding its surface in two directions [1] |
How do stars make nebulae like the Hourglass?
About ten billion years after they're born, stars like the Sun swell into cooler, redder giants and cast off their outer layers. Ultraviolet light from the hot core left behind makes that gas glow. In the Hourglass the gas came out in two directions, pinched at the waist, and Hubble's sharp view showed the fine patterns etched in its walls that no ground-based telescope could see.
Step inside the Hourglass Nebula in Everdust
In Everdust’s Night Sky, look at the Hourglass Nebula and pinch to fly there on Apple Vision Pro, or tap it on iPhone and iPad. What you arrive in, in the app’s own words: “The Hourglass Nebula as it is today. Its own slider replays how the dying star made it.”
Everdust on the App Store for iPhone, iPad and Vision Pro
Everdust is free on the App Store for Apple Vision Pro, iPhone and iPad; Night Sky flies to the Hourglass Nebula on each. It is also free on Apple TV and on Google Play for Android, with other worlds; Android’s Night Sky has other wonders, not this one. I make Everdust, so weigh that; a star-map app such as Stellarium or SkySafari will find the Hourglass Nebula just as well.
Questions people ask
Can I see the Hourglass Nebula tonight? It depends on where you are. It can be seen from south of about 13° N, and it is best in the evening sky March to August from mid-southern latitudes. Choose your city on this page for tonight's times and where to look. With a large telescope or a camera: Very small and faint: a telescope and a southern sky; it's a photographic object.
Where is the Hourglass Nebula in the sky? In the constellation Musca, at right ascension 13h 39m 35s and declination −67° 23′ (J2000). It can be seen from south of about 13° N (farther north it never climbs 10° above the horizon).
How far away is the Hourglass Nebula? Some 8,000 light-years (ESA), in Musca, the Fly, in the far southern sky.
Can you see the Hourglass Nebula from the Northern Hemisphere? Only from the tropics. It's about 67° south of the celestial equator, so it never rises for anyone more than about 23° north of the equator.
Sources
- Distance: “This nebula is some 8000 light-years away” (esa.int, the figure Everdust uses)
- ESA/Hubble opo9607a: The Hourglass Nebula
Distance and position: the deep-sky catalog in Everdust’s Night Sky (read November 1, 2026), each figure quoted from the source above. Constellation, seasons and tonight are computed with Astronomy Engine (Don Cross, MIT license). More: Wikipedia.
