RA 157.2561° · Dec -44.6568° · openngc
9 more points to reach Rare.
NGC 3261 is an uncommon galaxy. It lies about 119,779,408.4 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Vel and shines at apparent magnitude 11.41.
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 NGC 3261 in the constellation Vel. At apparent magnitude 11.41, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.
Like any astronomical target, NGC 3261 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 3261 scores 25 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 9 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 3 science badges — Galaxy, Outside our galaxy entirely and 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.