About NGC 3280
NGC 3280 is a rare galaxy. It sits in the constellation Hya.
A triple galaxy system — three island universes tangled together, on a course that ends with them merging into one.
Rare galaxy 36 EP
NGC 3280
RA 158.1886° · Dec -12.6362° · openngc
Score breakdown
· 2 badgesRare 50 pts → Epic
- Galaxy triplet +22
- Galaxy +14
Total score 36
14 more points to reach Epic.
Badges
- Galaxy · +14
- Galaxy triplet · +22
Trivia
What it actually is
- What it actually is. A triple galaxy system — three island universes tangled together, on a course that ends with them merging into one.
Sense of scale
- Sense of scale. Galaxies pass through each other almost without collisions — the stars are so far apart that they simply miss.
- Scale. Home to hundreds of billions of stars — a universe unto itself, and every one of those points of light could have planets.
Find it in the sky
- Where to look. You'll find it in the constellation Hydra.
- Southern sky. It rides the southern half of the sky — an easier target the further south you are.
- Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around February — that's when to go looking.
How we came to know it
- The New General Catalogue. Its NGC number comes from J. L. E. Dreyer's 1888 catalogue, itself built on decades of sky sweeps by William Herschel and his sister Caroline.
Properties
- constellation
- Hya
- dso type
- GTrpl
- name
- NGC 3280
- size arcmin
- 1.4
How to see it
Look for NGC 3280 in the constellation Hya.
Like any astronomical target, NGC 3280 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 NGC 3280 is a rare galaxy
NGC 3280 scores 36 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 14 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 2 science badges — Galaxy and Galaxy triplet — 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.