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NGC 491 — Galaxy in Sculptor

Galaxy Good (43/100)

Barred Spiral

Magnitude 13.0m Galaxy Sculptor (Scl) Visible
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1Properties

Magnitude 13.0
Angular Size 1.4′ × 1.0′
Position Angle 95°
Distance 180.98 million ly
Galaxy Type Barred Spiral (SBb)
B, S, vlE, bM, vS* nr

Position & Identifiers

RA 01h 21m 20.4s
Dec -34° 03' 47.9"
Constellation Sculptor (Scl)
Catalog NGC 491

2How easy to spot?

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Telescope Bortle 3 Bortle 4 Bortle 5
80mm refr. V. hard V. hard V. hard
150mm Newt. Hard Hard V. hard+
C8 203mm Hard+ Hard Hard
Easy Medium Hard Very hard Impossible

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

Medium on Seestar S50

3Visibility

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Best season Sep – Nov (peak: Oct)

4 Eyepiece View

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125x TFOV: 0.4° Lim. mag: 13.6
N E

NGC 491 · 1.4′×1.0′ · N up, E left

5 Best Magnification

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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.

R Scl
Easy
Mira-type variable, range 5.5–8.0
Variable Star mag 5.79 1.9° Sculptor
NGC 568
Hard+
Elliptical galaxy
Galaxy mag 12.62 2.1° Sculptor
NGC 439
Hard
Elliptical galaxy
Galaxy mag 13.0 2.8° Sculptor
NGC 623
Hard+
Elliptical galaxy
Galaxy mag 12.52 3.7° Sculptor
IC 1608
Hard
Bright spiral galaxy
Galaxy mag 12.86 4.5° Sculptor
NGC 288
Easy
Globular cluster — dense ball of ancient stars
Globular Cluster mag 8.1 9.7° Sculptor
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