Lenticular galaxy · Fornax
NGC 1316 Fornax A
mag 8.514′ across
About
NGC 1316 (Fornax A) is a lenticular galaxy of magnitude 8.5 in Fornax, about 14′ across.
How to find it
- NGC 1316 is in the constellation Fornax.
- Best evenings: around late December 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 south of 43° N.
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)A misty oval with a brighter centre.
- 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 | NGC 1316, PGC 12651 |
|---|---|
| Type | Lenticular galaxy (S0) |
| Magnitude | 8.5The smaller the number, the brighter. |
| Apparent size | 14′ × 7.7′position angle 50°; the full Moon is 31′ across |
| Surface brightness | 23.8 mag/arcsec²Average over its disc, in the blue band: the lower the number, the easier it is to see. |
| Constellation | Fornax |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 03h 22m 41.7s |
| Declination (J2000) | −37° 12′ 30″ |
Sources 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 →