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Show the direction and distance to this nebula on the Galactic Map.

Proper Name	None
Messier Number	None
NGC/IC Number	NGC 6820
Constellation	Vulpecula
Right Ascension	19h 42m 28s
Declination	+23° 5' 15"
Distance	c.6,000 light years c.1,800 parsecs (highly approximate)
Magnitude	Apparent: +14.90 Absolute: +3.58
Diameter	Apparent: 1' Actual: approxiately 2 light years, depending on distance
Associated stars	Open cluster Collinder 404
Optimum Visibility	July / August
Notes	Some older sources prefer to assign the catalogue number NGC 6820 to the entire surrounding nebula, a wide region extending across some forty arcminutes of sky. This broader nebula is now more usually known as Westerhout 55, or by its Sharpless number, Sh 2-86, and the identity NGC 6820 refers (as here) to the small bright nebula within it.

NGC 6820 is a small light patch in the much broader mass of nebulous material designated Westerhout 55 or Sh 2-86 in Vulpecula. This area is illuminated by the light of the young cluster Collinder 404, a collection of stars that have recently emerged within this region of stellar formation. Imagery provided by Aladin sky atlas

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