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NGC 686 — Galaxy in Fornax

Galaxy Fair (24/100)

Elliptical

Magnitude 13.0m Galaxy Fornax (For) Visible
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1Properties

Magnitude 13.0
Angular Size 1.3′ × 1.1′
Position Angle 5°
Distance 216.33 million ly
Galaxy Type Elliptical (E-S0)
vF, vS, R, gbM, er, 2 st nr

Position & Identifiers

RA 01h 48m 56.1s
Dec -23° 47' 53.2"
Constellation Fornax (For)
Catalog NGC 686

2How easy to spot?

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Telescope Bortle 3 Bortle 4 Bortle 5
80mm refr. Hard V. hard+ V. hard+
150mm Newt. Hard+ Hard+ Hard
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 Sep – Nov (peak: Oct)

4 Eyepiece View

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125x TFOV: 0.4° Lim. mag: 13.6
N E

NGC 686 · 1.3′×1.1′ · 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.

Epsilon Scl
Easy
Easy double, sep 5.0″
Double Star mag 5.31 1.5° Sculptor
IC 1729
Hard+
Elliptical galaxy
Galaxy mag 12.53 3.1° Fornax
NGC 613
Hard+
Barred spiral galaxy
Galaxy mag 10.0 6.5° Sculptor
NGC 908
Hard+
Bright spiral galaxy
Galaxy mag 10.2 8.3° Cetus
IC 1788
Hard
Barred spiral galaxy
Galaxy mag 12.4 9.5° Fornax
R Scl
Easy
Mira-type variable, range 5.5–8.0
Variable Star mag 5.79 10.0° Sculptor
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