About NGC 5538
NGC 5538 is a common galaxy. It sits in the constellation Boo and shines at apparent magnitude 15.5.
Home to hundreds of billions of stars — a universe unto itself.
Common galaxy 20 EP
NGC 5538
RA 214.4270° · Dec 7.4767° · openngc
Score breakdown
· 1 badgeCommon 24 pts → Uncommon
- Galaxy +20
Total score 20
4 more points to reach Uncommon.
Badges
- Galaxy · +20
Trivia
Cosmic context
- Scale. Home to hundreds of billions of stars — a universe unto itself.
Properties
- constellation
- Boo
- dso type
- G
- hubble
- Sbc
- mag
- 15.5
- name
- NGC 5538
How to see it
Look for NGC 5538 in the constellation Boo. At apparent magnitude 15.5, it takes a larger telescope or a long-exposure image to capture.
Like any astronomical target, NGC 5538 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 5538 is a common galaxy
NGC 5538 scores 20 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 4 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 1 science badge — 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.