When is the best time to observe NGC 278?

NGC 278 is best observed from August through October, with peak visibility during September when it transits around midnight in the Northern Hemisphere.

Where is NGC 278 located in the sky?

NGC 278 lies in the constellation Cassiopeia at right ascension 00h 52m and declination +47° 33′.

What telescope do I need to see NGC 278?

At magnitude 10.9, NGC 278 is best observed with a 6-inch (150 mm) or larger telescope.

NGC 278 — Galaxy in Cassiopeia

Galaxy Good (48/100)

Barred Spiral

Magnitude 10.9^m Galaxy Cassiopeia (Cas) Visible

Star Map + List + Plan Star Hop

Observe

1Properties

Magnitude 10.9

Angular Size 2.4′ × 2.3′

Position Angle 30°

Distance 29.91 million ly

Galaxy Type Barred Spiral (SABb)

Description

cB, pL, R, 2 st 10 nr

Position & Identifiers

RA 00h 52m 06.0s

Dec +47° 32' 60.0"

Constellation Cassiopeia (Cas)

Catalog NGC 278

2How easy to spot?

Sign in and configure your equipment and default location to see a personalized row.

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

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

Log in to set your own equipment

125x TFOV: 0.4° Lim. mag: 13.6

Seeing Bortle

NGC 278 · 2.4′×2.3′ · N up, E left

5 Best Magnification

Explore

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 185

Easy

Elliptical galaxy

Galaxy mag 9.2 2.3° Cassiopeia

Galaxy mag 9.5 3.3° Cassiopeia

Galaxy mag 8.0 6.2° Andromeda

Galaxy mag 3.4 6.5° Andromeda

NGC 281

Medium+

Emission nebula — try an OIII filter

Emission Nebula mag 7.0 9.1° Cassiopeia

M76

Little Dumbbell Nebula

Hard+

Planetary nebula — try an OIII filter

Planetary Nebula mag 10.1 9.1° Perseus

Show on Map

Explore Nightbase

Related knowledge, tools, and stories — no observation planning required.

William Parsons

Built the Leviathan of Parsonstown; first to resolve spiral structure of nebulae

Biography

Galaxies and the Interstellar Medium

The Hubble tuning fork, Tully-Fisher distances, metallicity, Wolf-Rayet stars, HII regions, interstellar dust, the 21-cm hydrogen line, and the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect — the working toolkit astronomers use to read galaxies and the stuff between their stars.

Article

Cassiopeia

Mythology, bright stars, and deep-sky highlights.

Constellation