Spiral galaxy · Pisces
NGC 488 Whirligig Galaxy
mag 10.35′ across
About
NGC 488, the Whirligig Galaxy, is a spiral galaxy of magnitude 10.3 in Pisces, about 5′ across.
How to find it
- NGC 488 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 75° 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 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 488, PGC 4946, UGC 907 |
|---|---|
| Type | Spiral galaxy (Sb) |
| Magnitude | 10.3The smaller the number, the brighter. |
| Apparent size | 5′ × 3.7′position angle 13°; the full Moon is 31′ across |
| Surface brightness | 23.1 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 21m 46.8s |
| Declination (J2000) | +05° 15′ 24″ |
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 →