The sky around NGC 5938 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 5938 is a barred spiral galaxy (SBbc) in Triangulum Australe, 163 million light-years away
NGC 5938 (ESO 099-007, PGC 55582) is a barred spiral galaxy (SBbc) in the constellation Triangulum Australe, 163 million light-years away. It shines at magnitude 11.5 and spans 2.3′ × 1.6′ of sky, about 109,100 light-years across. It is a telescope object, 6 inches or larger, and it is highest in the evening sky in July.
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 5938 from Rigil Kentaurus
NGC 5938 lies 8.7° southeast of Rigil Kentaurus, the magnitude -0.0 star. A fist held at arm's length covers about 10°.
NGC 5938 is highest in the evening in July
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 23°N, and never sets south of 23°S.
NGC 5938 is 163 million light-years away
The light seen from NGC 5938 tonight left it about 163 million years ago, long before modern humans existed. It ranks 282 of 422 by distance among the galaxies on Go Astronomy. Distance source: Hubble flow, v=3500 km/s, H0=70.
Objects within 6° of NGC 5938
No other Messier, Caldwell or Herschel 400 object lies within 6°.
