Spiral galaxy · Grus
NGC 7552 Grus Quartet
Also known as: IC 5294
mag 11.53.9′ across
About
NGC 7552 (Grus Quartet) is a spiral galaxy of magnitude 11.5 in Grus, about 3.9′ across.
How to find it
- NGC 7552 is in the constellation Grus.
- Best evenings: around late October 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 37° 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)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 7552, IC 5294, PGC 70884 |
|---|---|
| Type | Spiral galaxy (Sab) |
| Magnitude | 11.5The smaller the number, the brighter. |
| Apparent size | 3.9′ × 3.6′the full Moon is 31′ across |
| Surface brightness | 22.8 mag/arcsec²Average over its disc, in the blue band: the lower the number, the easier it is to see. |
| Constellation | Grus |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 23h 16m 10.8s |
| Declination (J2000) | −42° 35′ 05″ |
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 →