Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Auriga (Aur)  ·  Contains:  24 phi Aur  ·  IC 417  ·  NGC 1931  ·  Sh2-234  ·  Sh2-237  ·  The star φAur
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The Spider and The Fly, Gary Lopez
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The Spider and The Fly

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The Spider and The Fly, Gary Lopez
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The Spider and The Fly

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Description

The mythology of the constellation Auriga is filled with drama, and this area of Auriga is no exception. It is the home of The Spider and The Fly (aka, IC 417 and NGC 1931). You can see the spider's two beady eyes and its legs scurrying across the delicate web. A length of web is snaking out from the rear of the spider in the direction of the hapless fly.

I captured these data in three successive, remarkably clear and stable nights, the FWHM ranging from 1.09 to 1.81. With wildfires burning in both Northern and Southern California these days, the sky here in Monterey is orange with smoke so no more "nebular dramas" like this one will be recorded for a while.

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The Spider and The Fly, Gary Lopez