Close-up: Ua ʻŌhiʻa Lani Nebula (NGC 6823) in Vulpecula | Gemini North Telescope

Close-up: Ua ʻŌhiʻa Lani Nebula (NGC 6823) in Vulpecula | Gemini North Telescope

To celebrate 25 years since the completion of the International Gemini Observatory, students in Hawai‘i voted for the Gemini North Telescope to image NGC 6820—a striking emission nebula and open star cluster in the constellation Vulpecula.

Distance from Earth: ~ 6,000 light years

The image was named Ua ʻŌhiʻa Lani, the Heavenly ʻŌhiʻa Rains, after the traditional Hawaiian story of the ʻŌhiʻa forests. The International Gemini Observatory is partly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and operated by NSF NOIRLab.

Learn more about the Gemini North Telescope:
https://noirlab.edu/public/programs/gemini-observatory/gemini-north/

Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
Image Processing: J. Miller & M. Rodriguez (International Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab), T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)

Duration: 30 seconds
Release Date: Nov. 19, 2025

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