The sky around NGC 4033 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.
ESO 572-042 · PGC 37863
NGC 4033
Elliptical galaxy (E) in
Elliptical galaxy (E) in , 70 million light-years away.
NGC 4033 is an elliptical galaxy (E) in , 70 million light-years away
NGC 4033 (ESO 572-042, PGC 37863) is an elliptical galaxy (E) in the constellation , 70 million light-years away. It shines at magnitude 11.8 and spans 2.6′ × 1.3′ of sky, about 52,600 light-years across. It is a telescope object, 6 inches or larger, and it is highest in the evening sky in May.
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 4033 from Gienah
NGC 4033 lies 3.6° west of Gienah, the magnitude 2.6 star. Three fingers held at arm's length cover about 5°.
NGC 4033 is highest in the evening in May
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 72°N, and never sets south of 72°S.
NGC 4033 is 70 million light-years away
The light seen from NGC 4033 tonight left it about 70 million years ago, long before modern humans existed. It ranks 160 of 422 by distance among the galaxies on Go Astronomy. Distance source: Cosmicflows-4 (Tully et al. 2023).
