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NGC 1278 — Galaxy in Perseus

Galaxy Fair (29/100)

Elliptical

Magnitude 12.6m Galaxy Perseus (Per) Visible
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1Properties

Magnitude 12.6
Angular Size 1.4′ × 1.3′
Position Angle 90°
Distance 281.32 million ly
Galaxy Type Elliptical (E)
pB, pS, R, bM

Position & Identifiers

RA 03h 19m 54.1s
Dec +41° 33' 48.2"
Constellation Perseus (Per)
Catalog NGC 1278

2How easy to spot?

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Telescope Bortle 3 Bortle 4 Bortle 5
80mm refr. Hard Hard V. hard+
150mm Newt. Medium Hard+ Hard
C8 203mm Medium+ Medium Hard+
Easy Medium Hard Very hard Impossible

Bortle 3 = rural · 4 = outer suburbs · 5 = suburbs

Medium on Seestar S50

3Visibility

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Best season Oct – Dec (peak: Nov)

4 Eyepiece View

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125x TFOV: 0.4° Lim. mag: 13.6
N E

NGC 1278 · 1.4′×1.3′ · N up, E left

5 Best Magnification

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6 Surface Brightness

7 Morphology Decoder

8 Inclination & True Shape

9 Redshift

10 Size Comparator

Discover

11

Light Travel Time Machine

12

Relativistic Travel

Nearby in the Sky

Other targets within a few degrees — pan your scope a little and keep exploring.

Visibility scores assume a 150 mm Newton at Bortle 4.

NGC 1275
Medium+
Elliptical galaxy
Galaxy mag 11.6 0.1° Perseus
NGC 1270
Hard+
Elliptical galaxy
Galaxy mag 12.9 0.2° Perseus
NGC 1294
Hard
Elliptical galaxy
Galaxy mag 13.1 0.4° Perseus
Algol
HIP 14576; Beta Persei; 26 Persei
Easy
Eclipsing binary, period 2.9d
Variable Star mag 2.12 2.3° Perseus
NGC 1175
Hard+
Bright spiral galaxy
Galaxy mag 12.8 3.0° Perseus
NGC 1342
Easy
Rich open cluster
Open Cluster mag 6.7 4.8° Perseus
Show on Map

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