Go / no go for deep skyGo / no go for deep sky imaging
Antennae Galaxies (NGC 4038)
irregular galaxy in Corvus
The Antennae Galaxies are a pair of colliding galaxies in Corvus, with long, faint tidal tails stretching out like insect antennae. The collision is triggering waves of star formation, shown in bright pink and blue knots in the core.
Save your telescope or lens on the planner to lay your camera frame over this diagram.
// Key facts
- Catalog
- NGC 4038
- Type
- irregular galaxy
- Constellation
- Corvus
- Size
- 5′ across
- Brightness
- Magnitude 10.3
- Distance
- roughly 45 to 65 million light-years
- Peak month (any location)
- Mar
- Typical prime months
- Jan to Jun
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- 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 Antennae Galaxies
- The bright core is small (about 5 arcminutes), so use 1,500 mm or more.
- The tidal tails are very faint and need a very dark sky and many hours.
- Dec -19 is moderately low from northern sites.
Framing: what focal length?
NGC 4038 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 6% |
| 2,000 mm | about 12% |
| 3,000 mm | about 19% |
How high does it climb from your latitude?
The highest point NGC 4038 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) | 16° | Stays low |
| 45°N (Minneapolis, Milan) | 26° | Stays low |
| 35°N (Los Angeles, Tokyo) | 36° | Workable |
| 25°N (Miami, Cairo) | 46° | Workable |
| 35°S (Sydney, Santiago) | 74° | High in the sky |
Also worth imaging
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