The sky around NGC 1531/1532, 3° across, north up low-power eyepiece, 1° NE 1°
The sky around NGC 1531/1532 at true scale, north up and east left, with stars to magnitude 8. The circles show the field of a low-power eyepiece and of 10×50 binoculars.

NGC 1531 · ESO 359-026 · PGC 14635

NGC 1531/1532

Galaxy pair (E-S0) in Eridanus

Galaxy pair (E-S0) in Eridanus, 62 million light-years away.

ERIDANUS

The box shows where NGC 1531/1532 sits in Eridanus.

Constellation
EridanusEri
Magnitude
12.1visual
Size
1.5′ × 54″about 27,100 light-years
Distance
62 million lylight-years
Best month
Januaryat 9 pm
Best with
Telescope

NGC 1531/1532 is a galaxy pair (E-S0) in Eridanus, 62 million light-years away

NGC 1531/1532 (NGC 1531, ESO 359-026, PGC 14635, NGC 1532, ESO 359-027) is a galaxy pair (E-S0) in the constellation Eridanus, 62 million light-years away. It shines at magnitude 12.1 and spans 1.5′ × 54″ of sky, about 27,100 light-years across. It is a telescope object, 6 inches or larger, and it is highest in the evening sky in January.

Galaxy: a system of billions of stars, gas and dust held together by gravity, far outside the Milky Way. Spiral galaxies have a disk with arms; elliptical galaxies are smooth, round or oval swarms of older stars.

NGC 1531/1532 is AM 410-330 in the Arp-Madore catalog

Halton Arp and Barry Madore listed it in A Catalogue of Southern Peculiar Galaxies and Associations (1987), from their search of the UK Schmidt southern sky survey plates. The number 410-330 is its position: right ascension 4h 10m and declination -33.0°. It ranks 19 by brightness among the 40 brightest objects in the list on this site.

Finding NGC 1531/1532 from υ4 Eri

υ4 Eri NGC 1531/1532 ERIDANUS

NGC 1531/1532 lies 1.6° northwest of υ4 Eri, the magnitude 3.5 star. That is within one binocular field.

NGC 1531/1532 is highest in the evening in January

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC 60°N JAN at 60°N: -3° high at 9 pm FEB at 60°N: -8° high at 9 pm MAR at 60°N: -17° high at 9 pm APR at 60°N: -31° high at 9 pm MAY at 60°N: -45° high at 9 pm JUN at 60°N: -58° high at 9 pm JUL at 60°N: -63° high at 9 pm AUG at 60°N: -54° high at 9 pm SEP at 60°N: -40° high at 9 pm OCT at 60°N: -25° high at 9 pm NOV at 60°N: -13° high at 9 pm DEC at 60°N: -5° high at 9 pm 50°N JAN at 50°N: 7° high at 9 pm FEB at 50°N: 1° high at 9 pm MAR at 50°N: -11° high at 9 pm APR at 50°N: -28° high at 9 pm MAY at 50°N: -46° high at 9 pm JUN at 50°N: -65° high at 9 pm JUL at 50°N: -72° high at 9 pm AUG at 50°N: -59° high at 9 pm SEP at 50°N: -39° high at 9 pm OCT at 50°N: -21° high at 9 pm NOV at 50°N: -6° high at 9 pm DEC at 50°N: 4° high at 9 pm 40°N JAN at 40°N: 17° high at 9 pm FEB at 40°N: 9° high at 9 pm MAR at 40°N: -4° high at 9 pm APR at 40°N: -24° high at 9 pm MAY at 40°N: -46° high at 9 pm JUN at 40°N: -69° high at 9 pm JUL at 40°N: -82° high at 9 pm AUG at 40°N: -61° high at 9 pm SEP at 40°N: -38° high at 9 pm OCT at 40°N: -17° high at 9 pm NOV at 40°N: 2° high at 9 pm DEC at 40°N: 14° high at 9 pm 30°N JAN at 30°N: 27° high at 9 pm FEB at 30°N: 18° high at 9 pm MAR at 30°N: 2° high at 9 pm APR at 30°N: -20° high at 9 pm MAY at 30°N: -43° high at 9 pm JUN at 30°N: -69° high at 9 pm JUL at 30°N: -85° high at 9 pm AUG at 30°N: -60° high at 9 pm SEP at 30°N: -34° high at 9 pm OCT at 30°N: -12° high at 9 pm NOV at 30°N: 9° high at 9 pm DEC at 30°N: 23° high at 9 pm 20°N JAN at 20°N: 37° high at 9 pm FEB at 20°N: 26° high at 9 pm MAR at 20°N: 9° high at 9 pm APR at 20°N: -15° high at 9 pm MAY at 20°N: -40° high at 9 pm JUN at 20°N: -65° high at 9 pm JUL at 20°N: -76° high at 9 pm AUG at 20°N: -56° high at 9 pm SEP at 20°N: -30° high at 9 pm OCT at 20°N: -6° high at 9 pm NOV at 20°N: 16° high at 9 pm DEC at 20°N: 32° high at 9 pm 10°N JAN at 10°N: 47° high at 9 pm FEB at 10°N: 34° high at 9 pm MAR at 10°N: 15° high at 9 pm APR at 10°N: -10° high at 9 pm MAY at 10°N: -35° high at 9 pm JUN at 10°N: -58° high at 9 pm JUL at 10°N: -67° high at 9 pm AUG at 10°N: -50° high at 9 pm SEP at 10°N: -25° high at 9 pm OCT at 10°N: -1° high at 9 pm NOV at 10°N: 23° high at 9 pm DEC at 10°N: 41° high at 9 pm 0° JAN at 0°: 57° high at 9 pm FEB at 0°: 42° high at 9 pm MAR at 0°: 21° high at 9 pm APR at 0°: -4° high at 9 pm MAY at 0°: -29° high at 9 pm JUN at 0°: -50° high at 9 pm JUL at 0°: -57° high at 9 pm AUG at 0°: -43° high at 9 pm SEP at 0°: -20° high at 9 pm OCT at 0°: 5° high at 9 pm NOV at 0°: 30° high at 9 pm DEC at 0°: 50° high at 9 pm 10°S JAN at 10°S: 66° high at 9 pm FEB at 10°S: 49° high at 9 pm MAR at 10°S: 27° high at 9 pm APR at 10°S: 1° high at 9 pm MAY at 10°S: -22° high at 9 pm JUN at 10°S: -41° high at 9 pm JUL at 10°S: -47° high at 9 pm AUG at 10°S: -35° high at 9 pm SEP at 10°S: -14° high at 9 pm OCT at 10°S: 10° high at 9 pm NOV at 10°S: 36° high at 9 pm DEC at 10°S: 58° high at 9 pm 20°S JAN at 20°S: 76° high at 9 pm FEB at 20°S: 55° high at 9 pm MAR at 20°S: 32° high at 9 pm APR at 20°S: 6° high at 9 pm MAY at 20°S: -15° high at 9 pm JUN at 20°S: -32° high at 9 pm JUL at 20°S: -37° high at 9 pm AUG at 20°S: -27° high at 9 pm SEP at 20°S: -8° high at 9 pm OCT at 20°S: 15° high at 9 pm NOV at 20°S: 41° high at 9 pm DEC at 20°S: 65° high at 9 pm 30°S JAN at 30°S: 84° high at 9 pm FEB at 30°S: 58° high at 9 pm MAR at 30°S: 36° high at 9 pm APR at 30°S: 12° high at 9 pm MAY at 30°S: -8° high at 9 pm JUN at 30°S: -23° high at 9 pm JUL at 30°S: -27° high at 9 pm AUG at 30°S: -19° high at 9 pm SEP at 30°S: -1° high at 9 pm OCT at 30°S: 20° high at 9 pm NOV at 30°S: 45° high at 9 pm DEC at 30°S: 69° high at 9 pm 40°S JAN at 40°S: 81° high at 9 pm FEB at 40°S: 60° high at 9 pm MAR at 40°S: 39° high at 9 pm APR at 40°S: 17° high at 9 pm MAY at 40°S: -1° high at 9 pm JUN at 40°S: -14° high at 9 pm JUL at 40°S: -17° high at 9 pm AUG at 40°S: -10° high at 9 pm SEP at 40°S: 5° high at 9 pm OCT at 40°S: 24° high at 9 pm NOV at 40°S: 47° high at 9 pm DEC at 40°S: 69° high at 9 pm below horizon low 20-40° 40-60° overhead-ish

The chart gives its height above the horizon at 9 pm through the year, from 60°N to 40°S. It can be seen from the whole southern hemisphere and north to about 57°N, and never sets south of 57°S.

NGC 1531/1532 is 62 million light-years away

The light seen from NGC 1531/1532 tonight left it about 62 million years ago, long before modern humans existed. It ranks 137 of 422 by distance among the galaxies on Go Astronomy. Distance source: Cosmicflows-4 (Tully et al. 2023), Tully-Fisher.

Objects within 6° of NGC 1531/1532

No other Messier, Caldwell or Herschel 400 object lies within 6°.

NGC 1531/1532 catalog data

FieldValue
DesignationsNGC 1531, ESO 359-026, PGC 14635, NGC 1532, ESO 359-027, PGC 14638, AM 410-330
Typegalaxy pair (E-S0)
ConstellationEridanus
Right ascension (J2000)04h 12.0m
Declination (J2000)-32° 51′
Magnitude12.1
Surface brightness22.5 mag/arcmin²
Apparent size1.5′ × 54″
True size27,100 light-years
Distance62 million light-years (Cosmicflows-4 (Tully et al. 2023), Tully-Fisher)
Best monthJanuary
Best withTelescope