The sky around NGC 2146 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 2146 is a starburst galaxy (SBab) in Camelopardalis, 39 million light-years away
NGC 2146 (PGC 18797, UGC 3429) is a starburst galaxy (SBab) in the constellation Camelopardalis, 39 million light-years away. It shines at magnitude 11.4 and spans 6′ × 3.4′ of sky, about 68,100 light-years across. It is a telescope object, 6 inches or larger, and it is highest in the evening sky in February.
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.
Finding NGC 2146 from Polaris
NGC 2146 lies 11.3° southeast of Polaris, the magnitude 2.0 star. A fist held at arm's length covers about 10°.
NGC 2146 is highest in the evening in February
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 northern hemisphere and south to about 12°S, and never sets north of 12°N.
NGC 2146 is 39 million light-years away
The light seen from NGC 2146 tonight left it about 39 million years ago, long before modern humans existed. It ranks 89 of 422 by distance among the galaxies on Go Astronomy. Distance source: Hubble flow, cz=836 km/s, H0=70.
Objects within 6° of NGC 2146
No other Messier, Caldwell or Herschel 400 object lies within 6°.
