When is the best time to observe NGC 131?

NGC 131 is best observed from August through October, with peak visibility during September when it transits around midnight in the Northern Hemisphere.

Where is NGC 131 located in the sky?

NGC 131 lies in the constellation Sculptor at right ascension 00h 30m and declination -33° 16′.

What telescope do I need to see NGC 131?

At magnitude 13.2, NGC 131 is a challenging target that needs at least an 8-inch (200 mm) telescope and dark skies.

NGC 131 — Galaxy in Sculptor

Galaxy Good (43/100)

Barred Spiral

Magnitude 13.2^m Galaxy Sculptor (Scl) Visible

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1Properties

Magnitude 13.21

Angular Size 1.8′ × 0.7′

Position Angle 62°

Distance 67.05 million ly

Galaxy Type Barred Spiral (SBb)

Description

F, pL, pmE, vgbM, p of 2

Position & Identifiers

RA 00h 29m 38.5s

Dec -33° 15' 34.9"

Constellation Sculptor (Scl)

Catalog NGC 131

2How easy to spot?

Telescope	Bortle 3	Bortle 4	Bortle 5
80 mm refractor 80mm refr.	V. hard	V. hard	V. hard
150 mm Newton 150mm Newt.	Hard	V. hard+	V. hard+
Celestron C8 (203 mm SCT) C8 203mm	Hard+	Hard	Hard

Easy Medium Hard Very hard Impossible

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

Medium on Seestar S50

3Visibility

Set a location in User Settings to see visibility data.

Best season Aug – Oct (peak: Sep)

4 Eyepiece View

Telescope Eyepiece

125x TFOV: 0.4° Lim. mag: 13.6

Seeing Bortle

NGC 131 · 1.8′×0.7′ · N up, E left

5 Best Magnification

Explore

6 Surface Brightness

7 Morphology Decoder

8 Inclination & True Shape

9 Redshift

10 Size Comparator

Discover

Light Travel Time Machine

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 134

Easy

Edge-on galaxy

Galaxy mag 10.1 0.2° Sculptor

Eta Scl

Easy

Cool red giant

Star mag 4.81 0.4° Sculptor

IC 1554

Hard

Bright spiral galaxy

Galaxy mag 12.96 1.2° Sculptor

NGC 148

Medium

Bright spiral galaxy

Galaxy mag 12.1 1.8° Sculptor

NGC 254

Medium

Bright spiral galaxy

Galaxy mag 11.8 4.2° Sculptor

Kappa Scl

HIP 761; Kappa1 Sculptoris

Hard+

Tight double — a rewarding split at 1.3″

Double Star mag 5.42 6.8° Sculptor

NGC 288

Easy

Globular cluster — dense ball of ancient stars

Globular Cluster mag 8.1 8.3° Sculptor

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