Your deep sky companionYour deep sky imaging companion
Great Barred Spiral Galaxy (NGC 1365)
spiral galaxy in Fornax
The Great Barred Spiral is one of the finest barred spirals in the sky, with a bright central bar and two sweeping arms. It is the brightest member of the Fornax Galaxy Cluster, and many smaller galaxies share its field. It sits low for most northern observers.
Save your telescope or lens on the planner to lay your camera frame over this diagram.
// Key facts
- Catalog
- NGC 1365
- Type
- spiral galaxy
- Constellation
- Fornax
- Size
- 11′ across
- Brightness
- Magnitude 9.5
- Distance
- about 56 million light-years
- Peak month (any location)
- Nov
- Typical prime months
- Aug to Jan
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Filter
- No filter (broadband); a light-pollution filter is optional
Pick a saved location or share your device location. Your coordinates are used only to calculate tonight and are not stored. To save locations, use the planner.
How to image Great Barred Spiral Galaxy
- Use 1,000 to 2,000 mm; it is about 11 arcminutes long.
- NGC 1316 (Fornax A) is only a couple of degrees away, so a wide field can hold both.
- The bar is bright and the arms faint, so combine different exposure lengths.
Framing: what focal length?
NGC 1365 is small, so a "60% of the frame" focal length would be impractical. Here is how much of an APS-C frame it covers at common long focal lengths; expect to crop.
| Focal length | Share of the frame width |
|---|---|
| 1,000 mm | about 14% |
| 2,000 mm | about 27% |
| 3,000 mm | about 41% |
How high does it climb from your latitude?
The highest point NGC 1365 reaches in the sky. Above about 60° is excellent, 30° to 60° is workable, and under 30° you are looking through a lot of air.
| Latitude | Highest point | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| 55°N (Scotland, Alaska) | below horizon | Never rises |
| 45°N (Minneapolis, Milan) | 9° | Stays low |
| 35°N (Los Angeles, Tokyo) | 19° | Stays low |
| 25°N (Miami, Cairo) | 29° | Stays low |
| 35°S (Sydney, Santiago) | 89° | High in the sky |
Also worth imaging
Want a GO / NO-GO verdict for tonight, with clouds, moon, seeing and a full dark-window timeline?
Open the planner