British Astronomical Association

Supporting amateur astronomers since 1890


Gallery

Observers

Objects

Sky map

Histogram

FAQs

Search

Observation by Alan Thomas: NGC 45 Spiral Galaxy in Cetus

Uploaded by

Alan Thomas

Observer

Alan Thomas

Observed

2026 Oct 11 - 02:44

Uploaded

2026 Oct 13 - 16:44

Objects

NGC45

Planetarium overlay









Constellation

Cetus

Field centre

RA: 00h14m
Dec: -23°10'
Position angle: -2°34'

Field size

0°21' × 0°21'

Equipment
  • PlaneWave CDK24 24 inch f/6.5 Corrected Dall-Kirkham Astrograph
  • FLI ProLine KAF-16803 CCD camera
  • 10Micron GM4000 robotic German equatorial mount
Exposure

3min

Location

Observatorio del Teide, Tenerife

Target name

NGC 45 Spiral Galaxy in Cetus

Title

NGC 45 Spiral Galaxy in Cetus

About this image

This rather faint, diffuse spiral galaxy was discovered by John Herschel in November 1835.

As this PIRATE image shows, the galaxy is generally lacking in visible structure, showing little sign of a bright central nucleus and spiral arms. It looks rather threadbare, as if it lacks sufficient material to form a 'proper' spiral galaxy.

Distance c.22million ly. Size c.55-80,000 ly.

The bright star, HD941, is a mag. 6.7 K1-type giant.

Several other galaxies can be seen, including:

PGC 3094764 - a mag. 18 (?) spiral galaxy.

PGC 804519 - a mag. 16 (?) spiral galaxy.

PGC 804799

PGC 3097980

PGC 803099

Files associated with this observation
Like this image
Copyright of all images and other observations submitted to the BAA remains with the owner of the work. Reproduction of work by third parties is expressly forbidden without the consent of the copyright holder. By submitting images to this online gallery, you grant the BAA permission to reproduce them in any of our publications.

© British Astronomical Association 2026

Registered charity no. 210769
Registered company no. 117572

For more information including contact details, click here.

Our Terms of Use are here.

Our Privacy Policy is here.

The BAA image gallery was designed and
built by Dominic Ford.

Image gallery software © Dominic Ford 2020–2024