When is the best time to observe NGC 6557?

NGC 6557 is best observed from May through July, with peak visibility during June when it transits around midnight in the Northern Hemisphere.

Where is NGC 6557 located in the sky?

NGC 6557 lies in the constellation Octans at right ascension 18h 21m and declination -76° 35′.

What telescope do I need to see NGC 6557?

At magnitude 13.1, NGC 6557 is a challenging target that needs at least an 8-inch (200 mm) telescope and dark skies.

NGC 6557 — Galaxy in Octans

Galaxy Fair (28/100)

Lenticular

Magnitude 13.1^m Galaxy Octans (Oct) Visible

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1Properties

Magnitude 13.14

Angular Size 1.4′ × 0.9′

Position Angle 77°

Distance 258.68 million ly

Galaxy Type Lenticular (S0)

Description

vF, vS, R, glbM

Position & Identifiers

RA 18h 21m 24.8s

Dec -76° 34' 58.8"

Constellation Octans (Oct)

Catalog NGC 6557

2How easy to spot?

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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	Hard
Celestron C8 (203 mm SCT) C8 203mm	Medium	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 May – Jul (peak: Jun)

4 Eyepiece View

Telescope Eyepiece

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125x TFOV: 0.4° Lim. mag: 13.6

Seeing Bortle

NGC 6557 · 1.4′×0.9′ · 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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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.

IC 4654

Hard+

Bright spiral galaxy

Galaxy mag 12.30 3.5° Apus

NGC 6653

Hard+

Elliptical galaxy

Galaxy mag 12.54 3.6° Pavo

IC 4704

Medium

Elliptical galaxy

Galaxy mag 12.02 5.0° Pavo

NGC 6392

Hard+

Bright spiral galaxy

Galaxy mag 12.27 7.3° Apus

C107

NGC 6101

Easy

Globular cluster — dense ball of ancient stars

Globular Cluster mag 9.3 8.7° Apus

Kappa Pav

Medium+

Variable star, range 3.9–4.8

Variable Star mag 4.44 9.7° Pavo

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