M77 (Cetus A)
A bright barred spiral galaxy in Cetus, notable as one of the nearest active (Seyfert II) galaxies. Its bright, almost stellar core is visible in small telescopes, with hints of surrounding nebulosity or spiral structure in larger instruments under good conditions.
Galaxy in Cetus. Magnitude 8.9.
Can you see it from Guyana?
From Georgetown (6.8° N) it climbs to 83° above the southern horizon at its highest; from Lethem (3.4° N), to 87° above the southern horizon. It is highest at midnight on the night of 29 Oct, in the middle of its season. The page works out tonight's rise, highest point and set for both towns in Guyana time (UTC-4), and where the Moon is.
What you'll see
- Your eyes: Not visible to the eye.
- 10x50 binoculars: A faint smudge from a dark site.
- A small telescope (80 to 100 mm): Faint and diffuse: use low power from a dark site.
- A camera: Tiny on camera: it needs 2,000 mm or more of focal length on a tracking mount.
How big, how bright, how far
- Size on the sky: 7′ × 6′, 23% of the Moon's width (the Moon is about 31′ wide).
- Brightness: magnitude 8.9. Fainter than the faintest stars in Georgetown (4.3) and Lethem (6.0): binoculars or a telescope.
- Distance: 33 million light-years. The light reaching your eye left it about 33 million years ago.
What it is made of
- Type
- Spiral galaxy with an active (Seyfert 2) nucleus
- Distance
- Approx. 33 million Lightyears
- True size
- Approx. 67,000 Lightyears across (at 33 million ly)
- Notable
- Its bright core is an active galactic nucleus, classed Seyfert 2 in SIMBAD.
More deep-sky objects: M74 (Phantom Galaxy) · Triangulum Galaxy (M33) · Sculptor Galaxy (NGC 253) · NGC 891 (Edge-on Galaxy) · Andromeda Galaxy (M31) · Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC)