H-NGC2976
Galaxy in Ursa Major
About
A small dwarf galaxy on the edge of the M81 group in Ursa Major, roughly 12 million light-years distant and 1°20′ from M81. Hubble images show no obvious spiral arms. A close encounter with neighbouring galaxies stripped away gas and fuelled a burst of star birth some 500 million years back; star formation is now confined to a core region roughly 5,000 light-years across. It is in the Herschel 400.
Imaging tips
- At about 6′ × 3′ it is too small to frame alone: use a long focal length and a fine pixel scale.
- M81 lies about 1°20′ away, so a wider field of that size can hold both galaxies.
- Faint for its size at 22.0 mag/arcsec². One imager used 8-second subs totalling 42 min 24 s on a 300 mm lens.
- Best around January to March; it peaks near 72° altitude from 50°N.
Facts
- Size
- 6′ × 3′
- Magnitude
- 10.2
- Coordinates
- RA 9h 47.3m, Dec +67° 55′
- Framing, APS-C
- longer than 4000 mm
- Framing, full frame
- longer than 4000 mm
- Best months
- Jan, Feb, Mar
- Peak altitude
- 72° from 50°N, 57° from 35°N