RA 124.8355° · Dec 50.0096° · openngc
10 more points to reach Rare.
NGC 2552 is an uncommon galaxy. It sits in the constellation Lyn and shines at apparent magnitude 12.25.
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 NGC 2552 in the constellation Lyn. At apparent magnitude 12.25, it takes a larger telescope or a long-exposure image to capture.
Like any astronomical target, NGC 2552 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.
NGC 2552 scores 24 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 10 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 2 science badges — Galaxy 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.