RA 133.8946° · Dec 58.7344° · openngc
12 more points to reach Epic.
Helix Galaxy is a rare galaxy. It lies about 40,718,014.6 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation UMa and shines at apparent magnitude 11.35.
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 Helix Galaxy in the constellation UMa. At apparent magnitude 11.35, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.
Like any astronomical target, Helix Galaxy 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.
Helix Galaxy 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 5 science badges — Galaxy, Outside our galaxy entirely, Has a proper name, Lenticular galaxy (a disc with no arms) and Never sets (northern circumpolar) — 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.