Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 25, 2026

IC 1266

IC 1266 is a planetary nebula located in the northeastern section of the southern constellation of Ara. It is a compact emission nebula surrounding a dying star, appearing stellar due to its small angular size and faint gaseous spectrum. Discovered in 1894 by astronomer Williamina Fleming, IC 1266 lies approximately 12,400 light-years from Earth and is best observed from the Southern Hemisphere.

Last revised
Jun 25, 2026
Read time
≈ 3 min
Length
603 w
Citations
11
Source
Wikipedia ↗
IC 1266
Nebula
Planetary nebula
Tc 1 nebula imaged by the James Webb Space Telescope MIRI instrument
Observation data: J2000.0 epoch
Right ascension17h 45m 35.29s
Declination−46° 05′ 23.7″
Distance12,4001 ly
ConstellationAra
DesignationsIC 1266, Tc 12

IC 1266 (also known as Tc 1, Thackeray 1) is a planetary nebula located in the northeastern section of the southern constellation of Ara. It is a compact emission nebula surrounding a dying star, appearing stellar due to its small angular size and faint gaseous spectrum. Discovered in 1894 by astronomer Williamina Fleming, IC 1266 lies approximately 12,400 light-years from Earth and is best observed from the Southern Hemisphere.34

Observation and characteristics

IC 1266 has an apparent visual magnitude of 11.2 and spans about 0.2 arcminutes in diameter, making it one of the smaller known planetary nebulae.5 The central star is an O-type star HD 161044, it has a P Cygni type profile.6

Spectroscopic and other studies reveal low-excitation lines typical of young planetary nebulae, with abundances of elements and molecules are found like7 the first fullerenes in space like C60 and C7089 were discovered in this nebula in 2010 using the Spitzer Space Telescope. These molecules are therefore the largest found in space.10 Hydrogenated amorphous carbon grains were suggested to cause emission features in the infrared in IC 1266. These grains may be related to the formation of the fullerenes.11

IC 1266 imaged by DECaPS source ↗

Amateur astronomers

Amateur astronomers, looking for IC 1266 / Thackeray 1, could use HD 160715 and HD 160917 as guidestars. Both stars shine at magnitude + 7 and are, as seen from Earth, located immediately westnorthwest of IC 1266. A little less than 2 degrees westsouthwest of IC 1266 is the location of the star Sigma Arae (σ Arae). IC 1266 is located half a degree south of Eugène Joseph Delporte's boundary between the constellations Ara and Scorpius.

References

References

  1. Stanghellini, Letizia; Shaw, Richard A.; Villaver, Eva (2008-12-10). "The Magellanic Cloud Calibration of the Galactic Planetary Nebula Distance Scale". The Astrophysical Journal. 689 (1): 194–202. arXiv:0807.1129. Bibcode:2008ApJ...689..194S. doi:10.1086/592395. ISSN 0004-637X.
  2. "IC 1266". simbad.cds.unistra.fr. Retrieved 2026-01-25.
  3. "IC 1266 - Planetary Nebula in Ara | TheSkyLive". theskylive.com. Retrieved 2026-01-25.
  4. "Index Catalog Objects: IC 1250 - 1299". cseligman.com. Retrieved 2026-01-25.
  5. Ford, Dominic. "IC1266 (Planetary nebula)". In-The-Sky.org. Retrieved 2026-01-25.
  6. Feibelman, W. A. (November 1983). "IUE observations of the low-excitation planetary nebula Tc-1". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 95: 886. Bibcode:1983PASP...95..886F. doi:10.1086/131266. ISSN 0004-6280.
  7. Pottasch, S. R.; Surendiranath, R.; Bernard-Salas, J. (2011-07-01). "Abundances in planetary nebulae: NGC 1535, NGC 6629, He2-108, and Tc1". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 531: A23. arXiv:1107.4041. Bibcode:2011A&A...531A..23P. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201116669. ISSN 0004-6361.
  8. Thakur, A.; Lohr, P. J.; Bernal, J. J.; Asaduzzaman, A.; Muralidharan, K.; Zega, T. J.; Ziurys, L. M. (2025-11-01). "A Theoretical Study of Carbon Nanotube Formation: Carriers of the Diffuse Interstellar Bands?". The Astrophysical Journal. 993 (1): 18. Bibcode:2025ApJ...993...18T. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ae06a3. ISSN 0004-637X.
  9. Aleman, Isabel; Leal-Ferreira, Marcelo L; Cami, Jan; Akras, Stavros; Ochsendorf, Bram; Wesson, Roger; Morisset, Christophe; Cox, Nick L J; Bernard-Salas, Jeronimo; Paladini, Carlos E; Peeters, Els; Stock, David J; Monteiro, Hektor; Tielens, Alexander G G M (2019-12-01). "Characterization of the planetary nebula Tc 1 based on VLT X-shooter observations". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 490 (2): 2475–2494. arXiv:1909.09768. doi:10.1093/mnras/stz2654. ISSN 0035-8711.
  10. Cami, Jan; Bernard-Salas, Jeronimo; Peeters, Els; Malek, Sarah Elizabeth (2010-09-03). "Detection of C 60 and C 70 in a Young Planetary Nebula". Science. 329 (5996): 1180–1182. doi:10.1126/science.1192035. ISSN 0036-8075.
  11. Gómez-Muñoz, M. A.; García-Hernández, D. A.; Barzaga, R.; Manchado, A.; Huertas-Roldán, T. (February 2024). "Hydrogenated amorphous carbon grains as an alternative carrier of the 9-13 μm plateau feature in the fullerene planetary nebula Tc 1". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 682: L18. arXiv:2402.14943. Bibcode:2024A&A...682L..18G. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202349087. ISSN 0004-6361.