The sky around NGC 6438/A, 3° across, north up low-power eyepiece, 1° NE 1°
The sky around NGC 6438/A 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 6438 · ESO 010-001 · PGC 61787

NGC 6438/A

Galaxy pair (S0) in Octans

Galaxy pair (S0) in Octans, 118 million light-years away.

OCTANS

The box shows where NGC 6438/A sits in Octans.

Constellation
OctansOct
Magnitude
11.6visual
Size
-apparent
Distance
118 million lylight-years
Best month
Augustat 9 pm
Best with
Telescope

NGC 6438/A is a galaxy pair (S0) in Octans, 118 million light-years away

NGC 6438/A (NGC 6438, ESO 010-001, PGC 61787, NGC 6438A, ESO 010-002) is a galaxy pair (S0) in the constellation Octans, 118 million light-years away. It shines at magnitude 11.6. It is a telescope object, 6 inches or larger, and it is highest in the evening sky in August.

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 6438/A is AM 1806-852 NED01 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 1806-852 is its position: right ascension 18h 06m and declination -85.2°.

Finding NGC 6438/A from β Hyi

β Hyi NGC 6438/A OCTANS

NGC 6438/A lies 13.6° south of β Hyi, the magnitude 2.8 star. A fist held at arm's length covers about 10°.

NGC 6438/A is highest in the evening in August

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC 60°N JAN at 60°N: -64° high at 9 pm FEB at 60°N: -65° high at 9 pm MAR at 60°N: -64° high at 9 pm APR at 60°N: -62° high at 9 pm MAY at 60°N: -60° high at 9 pm JUN at 60°N: -57° high at 9 pm JUL at 60°N: -56° high at 9 pm AUG at 60°N: -55° high at 9 pm SEP at 60°N: -56° high at 9 pm OCT at 60°N: -58° high at 9 pm NOV at 60°N: -60° high at 9 pm DEC at 60°N: -62° high at 9 pm 50°N JAN at 50°N: -54° high at 9 pm FEB at 50°N: -55° high at 9 pm MAR at 50°N: -54° high at 9 pm APR at 50°N: -52° high at 9 pm MAY at 50°N: -50° high at 9 pm JUN at 50°N: -47° high at 9 pm JUL at 50°N: -46° high at 9 pm AUG at 50°N: -45° high at 9 pm SEP at 50°N: -46° high at 9 pm OCT at 50°N: -48° high at 9 pm NOV at 50°N: -50° high at 9 pm DEC at 50°N: -52° high at 9 pm 40°N JAN at 40°N: -44° high at 9 pm FEB at 40°N: -45° high at 9 pm MAR at 40°N: -44° high at 9 pm APR at 40°N: -42° high at 9 pm MAY at 40°N: -40° high at 9 pm JUN at 40°N: -37° high at 9 pm JUL at 40°N: -36° high at 9 pm AUG at 40°N: -35° high at 9 pm SEP at 40°N: -36° high at 9 pm OCT at 40°N: -38° high at 9 pm NOV at 40°N: -40° high at 9 pm DEC at 40°N: -42° high at 9 pm 30°N JAN at 30°N: -34° high at 9 pm FEB at 30°N: -35° high at 9 pm MAR at 30°N: -34° high at 9 pm APR at 30°N: -32° high at 9 pm MAY at 30°N: -30° high at 9 pm JUN at 30°N: -27° high at 9 pm JUL at 30°N: -26° high at 9 pm AUG at 30°N: -25° high at 9 pm SEP at 30°N: -26° high at 9 pm OCT at 30°N: -28° high at 9 pm NOV at 30°N: -30° high at 9 pm DEC at 30°N: -32° high at 9 pm 20°N JAN at 20°N: -24° high at 9 pm FEB at 20°N: -25° high at 9 pm MAR at 20°N: -24° high at 9 pm APR at 20°N: -22° high at 9 pm MAY at 20°N: -20° high at 9 pm JUN at 20°N: -17° high at 9 pm JUL at 20°N: -16° high at 9 pm AUG at 20°N: -15° high at 9 pm SEP at 20°N: -16° high at 9 pm OCT at 20°N: -18° high at 9 pm NOV at 20°N: -20° high at 9 pm DEC at 20°N: -22° high at 9 pm 10°N JAN at 10°N: -14° high at 9 pm FEB at 10°N: -15° high at 9 pm MAR at 10°N: -14° high at 9 pm APR at 10°N: -12° high at 9 pm MAY at 10°N: -10° high at 9 pm JUN at 10°N: -7° high at 9 pm JUL at 10°N: -6° high at 9 pm AUG at 10°N: -5° high at 9 pm SEP at 10°N: -6° high at 9 pm OCT at 10°N: -8° high at 9 pm NOV at 10°N: -10° high at 9 pm DEC at 10°N: -12° high at 9 pm 0° JAN at 0°: -4° high at 9 pm FEB at 0°: -5° high at 9 pm MAR at 0°: -4° high at 9 pm APR at 0°: -2° high at 9 pm MAY at 0°: 0° high at 9 pm JUN at 0°: 2° high at 9 pm JUL at 0°: 4° high at 9 pm AUG at 0°: 5° high at 9 pm SEP at 0°: 4° high at 9 pm OCT at 0°: 2° high at 9 pm NOV at 0°: -0° high at 9 pm DEC at 0°: -3° high at 9 pm 10°S JAN at 10°S: 6° high at 9 pm FEB at 10°S: 5° high at 9 pm MAR at 10°S: 6° high at 9 pm APR at 10°S: 8° high at 9 pm MAY at 10°S: 10° high at 9 pm JUN at 10°S: 12° high at 9 pm JUL at 10°S: 14° high at 9 pm AUG at 10°S: 15° high at 9 pm SEP at 10°S: 14° high at 9 pm OCT at 10°S: 12° high at 9 pm NOV at 10°S: 10° high at 9 pm DEC at 10°S: 7° high at 9 pm 20°S JAN at 20°S: 16° high at 9 pm FEB at 20°S: 15° high at 9 pm MAR at 20°S: 16° high at 9 pm APR at 20°S: 18° high at 9 pm MAY at 20°S: 20° high at 9 pm JUN at 20°S: 22° high at 9 pm JUL at 20°S: 24° high at 9 pm AUG at 20°S: 25° high at 9 pm SEP at 20°S: 24° high at 9 pm OCT at 20°S: 22° high at 9 pm NOV at 20°S: 20° high at 9 pm DEC at 20°S: 17° high at 9 pm 30°S JAN at 30°S: 26° high at 9 pm FEB at 30°S: 25° high at 9 pm MAR at 30°S: 26° high at 9 pm APR at 30°S: 28° high at 9 pm MAY at 30°S: 30° high at 9 pm JUN at 30°S: 32° high at 9 pm JUL at 30°S: 34° high at 9 pm AUG at 30°S: 35° high at 9 pm SEP at 30°S: 34° high at 9 pm OCT at 30°S: 32° high at 9 pm NOV at 30°S: 30° high at 9 pm DEC at 30°S: 27° high at 9 pm 40°S JAN at 40°S: 36° high at 9 pm FEB at 40°S: 35° high at 9 pm MAR at 40°S: 36° high at 9 pm APR at 40°S: 38° high at 9 pm MAY at 40°S: 40° high at 9 pm JUN at 40°S: 42° high at 9 pm JUL at 40°S: 44° high at 9 pm AUG at 40°S: 45° high at 9 pm SEP at 40°S: 44° high at 9 pm OCT at 40°S: 42° high at 9 pm NOV at 40°S: 40° high at 9 pm DEC at 40°S: 37° 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 5°N, and never sets south of 5°S.

NGC 6438/A is 118 million light-years away

The light seen from NGC 6438/A tonight left it about 118 million years ago, long before modern humans existed. It ranks 241 of 422 by distance among the galaxies on Go Astronomy. Distance source: Hubble flow, v=2541 km/s, H0=70.

Objects within 6° of NGC 6438/A

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

NGC 6438/A catalog data

FieldValue
DesignationsNGC 6438, ESO 010-001, PGC 61787, NGC 6438A, ESO 010-002, PGC 61793, AM 1806-852 NED01, AM 1806-852 NED02
Typegalaxy pair (S0)
ConstellationOctans
Right ascension (J2000)18h 22.3m
Declination (J2000)-85° 24′
Magnitude11.6
Surface brightness22.1 mag/arcmin²
Distance118 million light-years (Hubble flow, v=2541 km/s, H0=70)
Best monthAugust
Best withTelescope