Spiral galaxy · Pisces

M74 Phantom Galaxy

Also known as: NGC 628

mag 9.211′ across

About

M74, the Phantom Galaxy, is a spiral galaxy of magnitude 9.2 in Pisces, about 11′ across.

M74 is in the constellation Pisces.
Best evenings: around late November 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 64° 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.

EyesNot visible to the naked eye.
Binoculars (10×50)A faint smudge, only from a dark site.
Telescope (6–8 inch)A faint oval glow with a brighter middle — no spiral arms without a camera.

For a dark country sky with no Moon. From a city, faint galaxies and nebulae can disappear completely.

Designations	M74, NGC 628, PGC 5974, UGC 1149
Type	Spiral galaxy (Sc)
Magnitude	9.2The smaller the number, the brighter.
Apparent size	11′ × 10′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	Pisces
Right ascension (J2000)	01h 36m 41.8s
Declination (J2000)	+15° 47′ 01″

Catalog data: OpenNGC by Mattia Verga, CC BY-SA 4.0, and d3-celestial by Olaf Frohn, BSD 3-Clause. All data sources →