When is the best time to observe NGC 5051?

NGC 5051 is best observed from March through May, with peak visibility during April when it transits around midnight in the Northern Hemisphere.

Where is NGC 5051 located in the sky?

NGC 5051 lies in the constellation Hydra at right ascension 13h 16m and declination -28° 17′.

What telescope do I need to see NGC 5051?

At magnitude 13.2, NGC 5051 is a challenging target that needs at least an 8-inch (200 mm) telescope and dark skies.

NGC 5051 — Galaxy in Hydra

Galaxy Good (43/100)

Barred Spiral

Magnitude 13.2^m Galaxy Hydra (Hya) Visible

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1Properties

Magnitude 13.15

Angular Size 1.6′ × 0.7′

Position Angle 48°

Distance 208.62 million ly

Galaxy Type Barred Spiral (SABb)

Description

neb, nf of 2

Position & Identifiers

RA 13h 16m 18.0s

Dec -28° 16' 60.0"

Constellation Hydra (Hya)

Catalog NGC 5051

2How easy to spot?

Telescope	Bortle 3	Bortle 4	Bortle 5
80 mm refractor 80mm refr.	V. hard	V. hard	V. hard
150 mm Newton 150mm Newt.	Hard	Hard	V. hard+
Celestron C8 (203 mm SCT) C8 203mm	Hard+	Hard	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 Mar – May (peak: Apr)

4 Eyepiece View

Telescope Eyepiece

125x TFOV: 0.4° Lim. mag: 13.6

Seeing Bortle

NGC 5051 · 1.6′×0.7′ · 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

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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 5078

Hard+

Edge-on galaxy

Galaxy mag 12.0 1.2° Hydra

NGC 5101

Medium

Bright spiral galaxy

Galaxy mag 12.0 1.5° Hydra

NGC 5061

Medium

Elliptical galaxy

Galaxy mag 12.0 1.5° Hydra

IC 4252

Hard

Elliptical galaxy

Galaxy mag 13.05 2.6° Hydra

LN Hya

Hard+

Semi-regular variable, range 6.6–6.7

Variable Star mag 6.62 4.8° Hydra

M68

NGC 4590

Easy

Globular cluster — dense ball of ancient stars

Globular Cluster mag 7.8 8.3° Hydra

4 Cen

Easy

Colorful double, sep 14.8″

Double Star mag 4.73 8.8° Centaurus

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