RA 123.3110° · Dec 45.9898° · openngc
12 more points to reach Epic.
Bear Claw Nebula is a rare galaxy. It lies about 20,826,950.2 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Lyn and shines at apparent magnitude 11.71.
A barred spiral — a straight bar of stars driving right through the nucleus, feeding gas inwards. Our own Milky Way is one of these.
Look for Bear Claw Nebula in the constellation Lyn. At apparent magnitude 11.71, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.
Like any astronomical target, Bear Claw Nebula 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.
Bear Claw Nebula scores 38 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 12 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 4 science badges — Galaxy, Outside our galaxy entirely, Has a proper name and Barred spiral galaxy — 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.