About IC 1987
IC 1987 is a rare galaxy. It sits in the constellation Ret.
A whole group of galaxies bound together, the same kind of structure our Milky Way belongs to.
Rare galaxy 40 EP
IC 1987
RA 55.0470° · Dec -55.0548° · openngc
Score breakdown
· 2 badgesRare 50 pts → Epic
- Galaxy group +26
- Galaxy +14
Total score 40
10 more points to reach Epic.
Badges
- Galaxy · +14
- Galaxy group · +26
Trivia
What it actually is
- What it actually is. A whole group of galaxies bound together, the same kind of structure our Milky Way belongs to.
Sense of scale
- Sense of scale. Groups like this are the bricks of the cosmic web: the largest structures gravity has had time to build.
- Scale. Home to hundreds of billions of stars — a universe unto itself, and every one of those points of light could have planets.
Find it in the sky
- Where to look. You'll find it in the constellation Reticulum.
- Southern sky. It rides the southern half of the sky — an easier target the further south you are.
- Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around November — that's when to go looking.
How we came to know it
- The Index Catalogue. The IC was the 1895 and 1908 supplement to the NGC — the first catalogue in history to be filled largely with objects found on photographic plates rather than by eye.
Properties
- constellation
- Ret
- dso type
- GGroup
- name
- IC 1987
- size arcmin
- 1.4
Nearby objects
How to see it
Look for IC 1987 in the constellation Ret.
Like any astronomical target, IC 1987 is best seen from a dark site away from city lights, and when it is above the horizon depends on your latitude and the time of year. The visibility panel above works out tonight's viewing window for your saved location.
Why IC 1987 is a rare galaxy
IC 1987 scores 40 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 10 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 2 science badges — Galaxy and Galaxy group — each earned for a real, measurable property of the object. Rarity on Spacedle is never random: the more remarkable an object's astrophysics, the more badges it collects, the higher it scores, and the rarer it ranks.