Lenticular galaxy · Ursa Minor
NGC 3172 Polarissima Borealis
mag 15.01.1′ across
About
NGC 3172 (Polarissima Borealis) is a lenticular galaxy of magnitude 15.0 in Ursa Minor, about 1.1′ across.
How to find it
- NGC 3172 is in the constellation Ursa Minor.
- Where on Earth: it is seen well, at least 10° up, from north of 9° 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)Too faint for binoculars.
- Telescope (6–8 inch)Very hard or out of reach: it needs a dark sky and a larger telescope, or a camera.
For a dark country sky with no Moon. From a city, faint galaxies and nebulae can disappear completely.
Facts
| Designations | NGC 3172, PGC 36847 |
|---|---|
| Type | Lenticular galaxy (S0) |
| Magnitude | 15.0The smaller the number, the brighter. |
| Apparent size | 1.1′ × 1′the full Moon is 31′ across |
| Surface brightness | 23.9 mag/arcsec²Average over its disc, in the blue band: the lower the number, the easier it is to see. |
| Constellation | Ursa Minor |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 11h 47m 14.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | +89° 05′ 35″ |
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 →