H-NGC596
Galaxy in Cetus
About
An elliptical galaxy in Cetus, about 65 million light-years away, thought to be a merger remnant with a faint outer envelope. A black hole of around 170 million solar masses is estimated at its centre. It belongs to the NGC 584 group and is in the Herschel 400.
Imaging tips
- Too small to frame at 3×2′: use a long focal length and a fine pixel scale.
- NGC 584 lies about 25′ away (approximate, from coordinates), in a wider field; one imager framed both plus NGC 586 at 1600 mm.
- That imager shot seven 6-minute subs at ISO 3200 with a Moon & Skyglow filter (about 42 minutes); the film frame showed NGC 600 and NGC 615 too.
- Expect an even, structureless glow rather than internal detail; surface brightness is 21.6 mag/arcsec².
- Best in September and October; it stays below 33° altitude from 50°N, and sits about 2.5° northeast of Theta Ceti.
Facts
- Size
- 3′ × 2′
- Magnitude
- 11.0
- Coordinates
- RA 1h 32.9m, Dec −7° 2′
- Framing, APS-C
- longer than 4000 mm
- Framing, full frame
- longer than 4000 mm
- Best months
- Sep, Oct
- Peak altitude
- 33° from 50°N, 48° from 35°N