About Bode's Galaxy
Bode's Galaxy is an epic galaxy. It sits in the constellation UMa and shines at apparent magnitude 6.92.
Home to hundreds of billions of stars — a universe unto itself.
Epic galaxy 46 EP
Bode's Galaxy
RA 148.8882° · Dec 69.0653° · openngc
Score breakdown
· 4 badgesEpic 68 pts → Anomaly
- Galaxy +20
- Messier object +12
- Has a proper name +8
- Bright deep-sky object +6
Total score 46
22 more points to reach Anomaly.
Badges
- Galaxy · +20
- Messier object · +12
- Bright deep-sky object · +6
- Has a proper name · +8
Trivia
How we found it
- Named. Notable enough to have earned a proper name, not just a catalogue number.
Cosmic context
- Scale. Home to hundreds of billions of stars — a universe unto itself.
Properties
- constellation
- UMa
- dso type
- G
- hubble
- Sab
- mag
- 6.92
- messier
- yes
- messier number
- 081
- name
- Bode's Galaxy
- named
- yes
How to see it
Look for Bode's Galaxy in the constellation UMa. At apparent magnitude 6.92, it is an easy target for binoculars.
Like any astronomical target, Bode's 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.
Why Bode's Galaxy is an epic galaxy
Bode's Galaxy scores 46 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the epic tier. Another 22 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 4 science badges — Galaxy, Messier object, Bright deep-sky object and Has a proper name — 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.