Observe
1Properties
Magnitude
12.0
Angular Size
4.3′ × 3.4′
Position Angle
136°
Distance
88.00 million ly
Galaxy Type
Elliptical (E)
pF, pS, R, psbM, r, p of 2
Querying SIMBAD database...
Position & Identifiers
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+ | Hard | V. hard+ |
| 150 mm Newton 150mm Newt. | Medium+ | Medium | Hard+ |
| Celestron C8 (203 mm SCT) C8 203mm | Medium+ | 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
Feb – Apr
(peak: Mar)
4
Eyepiece View
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 4106
Bright spiral galaxy
Galaxy
mag 11.4
0.0°
Hydra
IC 3010
Bright spiral galaxy
Galaxy
mag 12.22
0.6°
Hydra
NGC 4087
Elliptical galaxy
Galaxy
mag 13.0
3.3°
Hydra
NGC 3923
Elliptical galaxy
Galaxy
mag 10.1
3.5°
Hydra
M68
NGC 4590
Globular cluster — dense ball of ancient stars
Globular Cluster
mag 7.8
7.8°
Hydra
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
Hydra
Mythology, bright stars, and deep-sky highlights.
Constellation
