RA 188.9081° · Dec 12.2640° · openngc
7 more points to reach Rare.
NGC 4551 is an uncommon galaxy. It lies about 54,895,985.4 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Vir and shines at apparent magnitude 11.98.
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 4551 in the constellation Vir. At apparent magnitude 11.98, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.
Like any astronomical target, NGC 4551 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 4551 scores 27 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 7 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 4 science badges — Galaxy, Outside our galaxy entirely, Elliptical galaxy and On the zodiac — 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.