When is the best time to observe NGC 3945?

NGC 3945 is best observed from February through April, with peak visibility during March when it transits around midnight in the Northern Hemisphere.

Where is NGC 3945 located in the sky?

NGC 3945 lies in the constellation Ursa Major at right ascension 11h 53m and declination +60° 41′.

What telescope do I need to see NGC 3945?

At magnitude 10.6, NGC 3945 is best observed with a 6-inch (150 mm) or larger telescope.

NGC 3945 — Galaxy in Ursa Major

Galaxy Good (49/100)

Lenticular

Magnitude 10.6^m Galaxy Ursa Major (UMa) Visible

Star Map + List + Plan Star Hop

Observe

1Properties

Magnitude 10.6

Angular Size 5.5′ × 3.3′

Position Angle 15°

Distance 58.01 million ly

Galaxy Type Lenticular (S0-a)

Description

B, pL, R, gmbM, r, *12 sp

Position & Identifiers

RA 11h 53m 13.7s

Dec +60° 40' 32.2"

Constellation Ursa Major (UMa)

Catalog NGC 3945

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+	Medium	Hard+
150 mm Newton 150mm Newt.	Easy	Easy	Medium+
Celestron C8 (203 mm SCT) C8 203mm	Easy	Easy	Easy

Easy Medium Hard Very hard Impossible

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

Easy on Seestar S50

3Visibility

Set a location in User Settings to see visibility data.

Best season Feb – Apr (peak: Mar)

4 Eyepiece View

Telescope Eyepiece

Log in to set your own equipment

125x TFOV: 0.4° Lim. mag: 13.6

Seeing Bortle

NGC 3945 · 5.5′×3.3′ · 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 3894

Hard+

Elliptical galaxy

Galaxy mag 13.0 1.4° Ursa Major

NGC 4036

Easy

Bright spiral galaxy

Galaxy mag 10.6 1.6° Ursa Major

NGC 3796

Hard+

Elliptical galaxy

Galaxy mag 13.0 1.6° Ursa Major

Z UMa

Easy

Mira-type variable, range 6.2–9.7

Variable Star mag 6.20 2.8° Ursa Major

NGC 3642

Medium

Barred spiral galaxy

Galaxy mag 11.1 4.2° Ursa Major

M97

Owl Nebula

Hard+

Planetary nebula — try an OIII filter

Planetary Nebula mag 9.9 7.6° Ursa Major

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

Ursa Major

Mythology, bright stars, and deep-sky highlights.

Constellation