The sky around NGC 2997 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 2997 is a spiral galaxy (SABc) in Antlia, 46 million light-years away
NGC 2997 (ESO 434-035, PGC 27978) is a spiral galaxy (SABc) in the constellation Antlia, 46 million light-years away. It shines at magnitude 9.4 and spans 10′ × 6.2′ of sky, about 137,500 light-years across. It is best in a small telescope, 4 to 6 inches, and it is highest in the evening sky in April.
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 2997 is AM 943-305 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 943-305 is its position: right ascension 9h 43m and declination -30.5°. It ranks 9 by brightness among the 40 brightest objects in the list on this site.
Finding NGC 2997 from ψ Vel
NGC 2997 lies 9.8° north of ψ Vel, the magnitude 3.6 star. A fist held at arm's length covers about 10°.
NGC 2997 is highest in the evening in April
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 59°N, and never sets south of 59°S.
NGC 2997 is 46 million light-years away
The light seen from NGC 2997 tonight left it about 46 million years ago, long before modern humans existed. It ranks 98 of 422 by distance among the galaxies on Go Astronomy. Distance source: Group mean, Anand 2021 PHANGS.
Objects within 6° of NGC 2997
No other Messier, Caldwell or Herschel 400 object lies within 6°.
