H-NGC3077
Galaxy in Ursa Major
About
Part of the M81 Group in Ursa Major, about 13 million light-years away, NGC 3077 is a compact galaxy whose edges look ragged and dusty. Its larger neighbours are the likely cause, through gravitational interaction. It is in the Herschel 400 list; William Herschel found it in 1801.
Imaging tips
- About 5′ across, so it is too small to frame: use a long focal length. It is faint at 22 mag/arcsec².
- M81 lies roughly 46′ away and M82 roughly 70′ away (approximate), so a wide field is needed to hold them together.
- One imager gathered 21 h 04 min over six nights (77 × 8 min luminance, 27 × 8 min per colour) at 1120 mm; compact HII regions in a tidal arm to the southeast showed up.
- Best around February and March; it peaks near 71° altitude from 50°N.
Facts
- Size
- 5′ × 5′
- Magnitude
- 9.9
- Coordinates
- RA 10h 3.3m, Dec +68° 44′
- Framing, APS-C
- longer than 4000 mm
- Framing, full frame
- longer than 4000 mm
- Best months
- Feb, Mar
- Peak altitude
- 71° from 50°N, 56° from 35°N