RA 305.9920° · Dec -43.9953° · openngc
13 more points to reach Epic.
IC 4946 is a rare galaxy. It lies about 135,675,497.9 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Sgr and shines at apparent magnitude 11.92.
A galaxy: a gravitationally bound city of stars, gas and dark matter, turning so slowly that a single rotation takes hundreds of millions of years.
Look for IC 4946 in the constellation Sgr. At apparent magnitude 11.92, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.
Like any astronomical target, IC 4946 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.
IC 4946 scores 37 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 13 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 5 science badges — Galaxy, Outside our galaxy entirely, Lenticular galaxy (a disc with no arms), Toward the galactic centre and On the zodiac — 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.