Lenticular galaxy · Draco
M102 Spindle Galaxy
Also known as: NGC 5866
mag 9.95′ across
About
M102, the Spindle Galaxy, is a lenticular galaxy of magnitude 9.9 in Draco, about 5′ across.
How to find it
- M102 is in the constellation Draco.
- Best evenings: around late June it is highest at about 9 pm (10 pm in summer time); a month earlier, two hours later.
- Where on Earth: it is seen well, at least 10° up, from north of 24° S.
When it rises and sets tonight, how high it climbs and how much the Moon gets in the way are worked out in your browser for your place.
What you will see
- EyesNot visible to the naked eye.
- Binoculars (10×50)Too faint for binoculars.
- Telescope (6–8 inch)A bright lens-shaped glow with a starlike core.
For a dark country sky with no Moon. From a city, faint galaxies and nebulae can disappear completely.
Facts
| Designations | M102, NGC 5866, PGC 53933, UGC 9723 |
|---|---|
| Type | Lenticular galaxy (S0-a) |
| Magnitude | 9.9The smaller the number, the brighter. |
| Apparent size | 5′ × 2.1′position angle 126°; the full Moon is 31′ across |
| Surface brightness | 23.4 mag/arcsec²Average over its disc, in the blue band: the lower the number, the easier it is to see. |
| Constellation | Draco |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 15h 06m 29.5s |
| Declination (J2000) | +55° 45′ 48″ |
More in Draco
NGC 6543Cat's Eye NebulaPlanetary nebula · mag 9.0
NGC 4236Galaxymag 9.8.jpg?width=160)
NGC 6503Lost in Space GalaxyGalaxy · mag 10.1.jpg?width=160)
NGC 6621Edward's GalaxyGalaxy · mag 13.4NGC 6622Edward's GalaxyGalaxy · mag 14.1Sources and credits
Catalog data: OpenNGC by Mattia Verga, CC BY-SA 4.0, and d3-celestial by Olaf Frohn, BSD 3-Clause. All data sources →