NGC 2022 is a planetary nebula in the equatorial constellation of Orion, located at a distance of 8.21 kilolight-years from the Sun.

[3] It was first observed by William Herschel on December 28, 1785, who described it as: considerably bright, nearly round, like a star with a large diameter, like an ill-defined planetary nebula.

The object has the shape of a prolate spheroid with a major to minor axis ratio of 1.2,[4] an apparent size of 28″, and a halo extending out to 40″, which is about the angular diameter of Jupiter as seen from Earth.

[5] A faint outer halo consists of the remains of material ejected during the central star's asymptotic giant branch stage.

The elemental abundances are similar to those in the Sun, although carbon is about 50% higher and sulfur is a factor of two lower.