The Tadpoles – Simeis 129 & 130 in IC 410

The Tadpoles in IC 410 are a popular astrophotography target 10,000 light years away in the Auriga constellation. IC 410 is a large, hot emission region powered by the star cluster NGC 1893. Each of the Tadpoles, shaped by stellar radiation, are about 10 light years in length and comprise colder interstellar dust that serves as star nurseries.

They are individually catalogued as Sim 129 and Sim 130. In the early 20th century, amateur astronomer Nikolai Maltzov built a private observatory near the village of Simeiz in Crimea. In 1945, the Soviet government expanded the facility into what is now called the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory. In the 1950s, the observatory published a number of lists of emission objects that are now collectively known as the Simeis Catalogue (“Sim”).