{"release":{"id":"DR1","released_on":"2026-08-21","doi":null,"url":"https://spacecatalog.org/releases#dr1"},"epoch":{"requested":"now","label":"J2026.654","julian_year":2026.654,"time":"2026-08-27T17:05:55.334Z","years_from_j2000":26.654,"frame":"date","applied":"Proper motion, then precession and nutation. The catalogued J2000 position is carried along the great circle the object's own published motion puts it on, at a constant velocity, and the result is referred to the true equator and equinox of this instant. Those are separate things: the motion moves the object, and the rotation turns the grid under it by about fifty arcseconds a year, with nutation adding up to another seventeen.","excluded":"Parallax, the radial-velocity perspective term, aberration and refraction; each is below the accuracy of the catalogued positions themselves. An object with no published proper motion comes back where the catalogue has it rather than at a fabricated zero, and says so with a null pm_ra_mas_yr. A body with no fixed position is not propagated at all — its place comes from an ephemeris, which is what /api/v1/visible answers with."},"slug":"ngc-40","name":"Bow-Tie nebula","class":"planetary_nebula","category":"nebula","object_type":"Planetary nebula","mag":11.89,"mag_band":"V","abs_mag":null,"abs_mag_band":null,"distance_ly":4073.6931576821253,"distance_method":"Statistical distance scale for planetary nebulae (Stanghellini+ 2008)","ra_deg":3.2542916666666666,"dec_deg":72.52194444444444,"epoch_ra_deg":3.619457,"epoch_dec_deg":72.671258,"epoch_moved_arcsec":null,"pm_ra_mas_yr":null,"pm_dec_mas_yr":null,"orbits":null,"semi_major_axis_km":null,"periapsis_km":null,"mass_kg":null,"mass_msun":null,"constellation":"Cepheus","discovered":"1788","featured":false,"url":"https://spacecatalog.org/object/ngc-40","radius_km":null,"radius_kind":null,"data_quality":null,"description":null,"properties":{"b_mag":11.27,"h_mag":10.8,"j_mag":10.89,"k_mag":10.38,"v_mag":11.89,"redshift":-0.000068,"wikidata_id":"Q43933","also_known_as":["Bow-Tie Nebula","Bowtie Nebula"],"discovered_by":"William Herschel","ngc_type_code":"PN","major_axis_arcmin":0.8,"wikipedia_article":"NGC 40","distance_reference":"NGC   40","radial_velocity_km_s":-20},"designations":[{"catalog":"Caldwell","designation":"C 2"},{"catalog":"Common name","designation":"Bow-Tie nebula"},{"catalog":"HD","designation":"HD 826"},{"catalog":"HIP","designation":"HIP 1041"},{"catalog":"IRAS","designation":"IRAS 00102+7214"},{"catalog":"NGC","designation":"NGC 40"},{"catalog":"PN","designation":"PN G120.0+09.8"}],"source":{"id":"openngc","name":"OpenNGC","url":"https://github.com/mattiaverga/OpenNGC","license":"CC-BY-SA-4.0"},"updated_at":"2026-08-27T16:03:54.983Z","attribution":"Data from SpaceCatalog.org. Individual records carry their source and license in `source`; attribution is required for CC-BY and CC-BY-SA rows."}