Barred spiral galaxy · Hydra
NGC 3621 Frame Galaxy
mag 9.69.8′ across
About
NGC 3621, the Frame Galaxy, is a barred spiral galaxy of magnitude 9.6 in Hydra, about 9.8′ across.
How to find it
- NGC 3621 is in the constellation Hydra.
- Best evenings: around late April 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 47° 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 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.
Facts
| Designations | NGC 3621, PGC 34554, UGCA 232 |
|---|---|
| Type | Barred spiral galaxy (SBcd) |
| Magnitude | 9.6The smaller the number, the brighter. |
| Apparent size | 9.8′ × 4′position angle 161°; the full Moon is 31′ across |
| Surface brightness | 23.0 mag/arcsec²Average over its disc, in the blue band: the lower the number, the easier it is to see. |
| Constellation | Hydra |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 11h 18m 16.5s |
| Declination (J2000) | −32° 48′ 51″ |
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 →