RA 146.4116° · Dec -31.1911° · openngc
15 more points to reach Epic.
NGC 2997 is a rare galaxy. It lies about 50,440,051.8 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Ant and shines at apparent magnitude 9.41.
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 2997 in the constellation Ant. At apparent magnitude 9.41, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.
Like any astronomical target, NGC 2997 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 2997 scores 35 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 15 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 4 science badges — Galaxy, Outside our galaxy entirely, Barred spiral galaxy and Big on the sky — 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.