When is the best time to observe NGC 3982?

NGC 3982 is best observed from February through April, with peak visibility during March when it transits around midnight in the Northern Hemisphere.

Where is NGC 3982 located in the sky?

NGC 3982 lies in the constellation Ursa Major at right ascension 11h 56m and declination +55° 08′.

What telescope do I need to see NGC 3982?

At magnitude 12.0, NGC 3982 is best observed with a 6-inch (150 mm) or larger telescope.

NGC 3982 — Galaxy in Ursa Major

Galaxy Good (43/100)

Barred Spiral

Magnitude 12.0^m Galaxy Ursa Major (UMa) Visible

Star Map + List + Plan Star Hop

Observe

1Properties

Magnitude 12.0

Angular Size 2.1′ × 1.9′

Position Angle 25°

Distance 51.82 million ly

Galaxy Type Barred Spiral (SABb)

Description

B, pL, R, g, sbM disc

Position & Identifiers

RA 11h 56m 28.1s

Dec +55° 07' 31.1"

Constellation Ursa Major (UMa)

Catalog NGC 3982

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.	Hard	V. hard+	V. hard+
150 mm Newton 150mm Newt.	Medium	Hard+	Hard
Celestron C8 (203 mm SCT) C8 203mm	Medium+	Medium	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 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 3982 · 2.1′×1.9′ · 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 3990

Hard+

Elliptical galaxy

Galaxy mag 12.6 0.4° Ursa Major

NGC 3998

Easy

Bright spiral galaxy

Galaxy mag 10.6 0.4° Ursa Major

NGC 3898

Medium+

Bright spiral galaxy

Galaxy mag 10.8 1.4° Ursa Major

NGC 4194

Hard+

Barred spiral galaxy

Galaxy mag 12.4 2.6° Ursa Major

Z UMa

Easy

Mira-type variable, range 6.2–9.7

Variable Star mag 6.20 2.7° Ursa Major

M97

Owl Nebula

Hard+

Planetary nebula — try an OIII filter

Planetary Nebula mag 9.9 6.0° 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