H-NGC1961
Galaxy in Camelopardalis
About
A distorted spiral galaxy in Camelopardalis, roughly 145 to 190 million light-years away depending on the method. Arp listed it as Arp 184 among galaxies with narrow filaments. Four supernovae have been found in it since 1998, and straight filament-like arms reach out from its northern side.
Imaging tips
- Only about 4–5′ across, so it is too small to frame: use a long focal length and a fine pixel scale.
- Faint at 22.2 mag/arcsec² even though the total is magnitude 10.6, so plan many hours of broadband data.
- It sits at the centre of a nine-galaxy group. A professional 14′ × 11′ image shows one small spiral nearby, so a wider field may hold more.
- Best in December; it peaks near 71° altitude from 50°N.
Facts
- Size
- 5′ × 3′
- Magnitude
- 10.6
- Coordinates
- RA 5h 42.1m, Dec +69° 23′
- Framing, APS-C
- longer than 4000 mm
- Framing, full frame
- longer than 4000 mm
- Best months
- Dec
- Peak altitude
- 71° from 50°N, 56° from 35°N