NGC 2550 is a spiral galaxy in Camelopardalis, 94 million light-years away
NGC 2550 is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Camelopardalis , 94 million light-years away. It shines at magnitude 13.0 and spans 57″ × 22″ of sky, about 26,000 light-years across. It is faint: a 10-inch or larger telescope, or a camera, and it is highest in the evening sky in March.
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 2550 from Polaris
Polaris
NGC 2550
CAMELOPARDALIS
NGC 2550 lies 16.0° east of Polaris , the magnitude 2.0 star. A fist held at arm's length covers about 10°.
NGC 2550 is highest in the evening in March
JAN
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60°N
JAN at 60°N: 65° high at 9 pm FEB at 60°N: 73° high at 9 pm MAR at 60°N: 76° high at 9 pm APR at 60°N: 72° high at 9 pm MAY at 60°N: 64° high at 9 pm JUN at 60°N: 56° high at 9 pm JUL at 60°N: 49° high at 9 pm AUG at 60°N: 45° high at 9 pm SEP at 60°N: 44° high at 9 pm OCT at 60°N: 46° high at 9 pm NOV at 60°N: 50° high at 9 pm DEC at 60°N: 57° high at 9 pm 50°N
JAN at 50°N: 57° high at 9 pm FEB at 50°N: 64° high at 9 pm MAR at 50°N: 66° high at 9 pm APR at 50°N: 62° high at 9 pm MAY at 50°N: 55° high at 9 pm JUN at 50°N: 47° high at 9 pm JUL at 50°N: 40° high at 9 pm AUG at 50°N: 35° high at 9 pm SEP at 50°N: 34° high at 9 pm OCT at 50°N: 36° high at 9 pm NOV at 50°N: 41° high at 9 pm DEC at 50°N: 48° high at 9 pm 40°N
JAN at 40°N: 47° high at 9 pm FEB at 40°N: 54° high at 9 pm MAR at 40°N: 56° high at 9 pm APR at 40°N: 53° high at 9 pm MAY at 40°N: 46° high at 9 pm JUN at 40°N: 38° high at 9 pm JUL at 40°N: 30° high at 9 pm AUG at 40°N: 26° high at 9 pm SEP at 40°N: 24° high at 9 pm OCT at 40°N: 26° high at 9 pm NOV at 40°N: 31° high at 9 pm DEC at 40°N: 39° high at 9 pm 30°N
JAN at 30°N: 38° high at 9 pm FEB at 30°N: 44° high at 9 pm MAR at 30°N: 46° high at 9 pm APR at 30°N: 43° high at 9 pm MAY at 30°N: 36° high at 9 pm JUN at 30°N: 28° high at 9 pm JUL at 30°N: 21° high at 9 pm AUG at 30°N: 16° high at 9 pm SEP at 30°N: 14° high at 9 pm OCT at 30°N: 16° high at 9 pm NOV at 30°N: 22° high at 9 pm DEC at 30°N: 29° high at 9 pm 20°N
JAN at 20°N: 28° high at 9 pm FEB at 20°N: 34° high at 9 pm MAR at 20°N: 36° high at 9 pm APR at 20°N: 33° high at 9 pm MAY at 20°N: 27° high at 9 pm JUN at 20°N: 19° high at 9 pm JUL at 20°N: 11° high at 9 pm AUG at 20°N: 6° high at 9 pm SEP at 20°N: 4° high at 9 pm OCT at 20°N: 6° high at 9 pm NOV at 20°N: 12° high at 9 pm DEC at 20°N: 20° high at 9 pm 10°N
JAN at 10°N: 18° high at 9 pm FEB at 10°N: 24° high at 9 pm MAR at 10°N: 26° high at 9 pm APR at 10°N: 23° high at 9 pm MAY at 10°N: 17° high at 9 pm JUN at 10°N: 9° high at 9 pm JUL at 10°N: 1° high at 9 pm AUG at 10°N: -4° high at 9 pm SEP at 10°N: -6° high at 9 pm OCT at 10°N: -4° high at 9 pm NOV at 10°N: 3° high at 9 pm DEC at 10°N: 10° high at 9 pm 0°
JAN at 0°: 9° high at 9 pm FEB at 0°: 14° high at 9 pm MAR at 0°: 16° high at 9 pm APR at 0°: 13° high at 9 pm MAY at 0°: 8° high at 9 pm JUN at 0°: -1° high at 9 pm JUL at 0°: -8° high at 9 pm AUG at 0°: -14° high at 9 pm SEP at 0°: -16° high at 9 pm OCT at 0°: -13° high at 9 pm NOV at 0°: -7° high at 9 pm DEC at 0°: 1° high at 9 pm 10°S
JAN at 10°S: -1° high at 9 pm FEB at 10°S: 4° high at 9 pm MAR at 10°S: 6° high at 9 pm APR at 10°S: 4° high at 9 pm MAY at 10°S: -2° high at 9 pm JUN at 10°S: -10° high at 9 pm JUL at 10°S: -18° high at 9 pm AUG at 10°S: -24° high at 9 pm SEP at 10°S: -26° high at 9 pm OCT at 10°S: -23° high at 9 pm NOV at 10°S: -17° high at 9 pm DEC at 10°S: -9° high at 9 pm 20°S
JAN at 20°S: -11° high at 9 pm FEB at 20°S: -6° high at 9 pm MAR at 20°S: -4° high at 9 pm APR at 20°S: -6° high at 9 pm MAY at 20°S: -12° high at 9 pm JUN at 20°S: -20° high at 9 pm JUL at 20°S: -28° high at 9 pm AUG at 20°S: -34° high at 9 pm SEP at 20°S: -36° high at 9 pm OCT at 20°S: -33° high at 9 pm NOV at 20°S: -26° high at 9 pm DEC at 20°S: -18° high at 9 pm 30°S
JAN at 30°S: -20° high at 9 pm FEB at 30°S: -15° high at 9 pm MAR at 30°S: -14° high at 9 pm APR at 30°S: -16° high at 9 pm MAY at 30°S: -22° high at 9 pm JUN at 30°S: -29° high at 9 pm JUL at 30°S: -37° high at 9 pm AUG at 30°S: -44° high at 9 pm SEP at 30°S: -46° high at 9 pm OCT at 30°S: -43° high at 9 pm NOV at 30°S: -36° high at 9 pm DEC at 30°S: -28° high at 9 pm 40°S
JAN at 40°S: -30° high at 9 pm FEB at 40°S: -25° high at 9 pm MAR at 40°S: -24° high at 9 pm APR at 40°S: -26° high at 9 pm MAY at 40°S: -31° high at 9 pm JUN at 40°S: -39° high at 9 pm JUL at 40°S: -47° high at 9 pm AUG at 40°S: -54° high at 9 pm SEP at 40°S: -56° high at 9 pm OCT at 40°S: -53° high at 9 pm NOV at 40°S: -46° 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 northern hemisphere and south to about 16°S, and never sets north of 16°N.
NGC 2550 is 94 million light-years away
The light seen from NGC 2550 tonight left it about 94 million years ago, long before modern humans existed. Distance source: Cosmicflows-4 (Tully et al. 2023).
Objects within 6° of NGC 2550
45 NGC and IC objects lie within 6°. The nearest that are brighter than magnitude 12.5 or have their own page:
NGC 2551, lenticular galaxy, 36′ NGC 2523, spiral galaxy, 48′ NGC 2633, spiral galaxy, 1.6° NGC 2634, elliptical galaxy, 1.6° NGC 2629, lenticular galaxy, 1.9° IC 520, mixed spiral galaxy, 2.1° NGC 2441, mixed spiral galaxy, 2.5° IC 529, late spiral galaxy, 3.7°
NGC 2550 catalog data
Field Value
Constellation Camelopardalis Designations NGC 2550, 2MASX J08243364+7400443, IRAS 08188+7410, MCG +12-08-037, PGC 023604, UGC 04359 Type spiral galaxy (Sb) Right ascension (J2000) 08h 24.6m Declination (J2000) +74° 01′ Magnitude 13.0 Surface brightness 21.0 mag/arcmin² Apparent size 57″ × 22″ Position angle 105° True size 26,000 light-years Distance 94 million light-years (Cosmicflows-4 (Tully et al. 2023)) Radial velocity 2,251 km/s, redshift 0.00754 Best with Large telescope Best month March Catalog page NGC 2501 to 3000
