NGC 2976 is a spiral galaxy in Ursa Major that presents an attractive target for astrophotographers with its moderately bright magnitude of 10.16 and substantial angular size spanning approximately 4.1 by 2.9 arcminutes. At a distance of 13.4 million light-years, this relatively nearby galaxy offers excellent detail potential through amateur telescopes and imaging setups. With a physical diameter of 15,800 light-years, it is a compact system whose structure and features can be well-resolved in long-exposure images. Its low surface brightness of 21.5 mag/arcsec² demands dark skies and adequate integration time to reveal spiral arm structure and dust lanes.
Names and Catalog numbers
- NGC 2976
- UGC 5221
- PGC 28120
Position and the cosmic neighborhood
NGC 2976 lies in the northern constellation Ursa Major at coordinates 09h 47m 15.5s right ascension and +67° 55′ 00″ declination. The galaxy’s far northern position keeps it circumpolar for many mid-latitude observers in the Northern Hemisphere, making it accessible throughout much of the year. Its exceptionally low radial velocity of just 3 km/s and corresponding redshift of 0.00001 indicate minimal recession, characteristic of objects within the local cosmic neighborhood. Also cataloged as PGC 28120 and UGC 5221, this galaxy is well-placed for imaging during winter and spring months when Ursa Major reaches higher altitudes in the evening sky.
Nice to Know
- NGC 2976’s radial velocity of only 3 km/s makes it one of the slowest-moving galaxies relative to us, indicating it is part of our local galactic environment.
- The galaxy’s compact physical size of 15,800 light-years makes it significantly smaller than our Milky Way, classifying it as a modest spiral system ideal for studying galactic structure at close range.
- With a surface brightness of 21.5 mag/arcsec², NGC 2976 rewards patient astrophotographers who invest in adequate exposure time under dark skies to bring out faint spiral features.
- Its angular extent of over 4 arcminutes makes NGC 2976 large enough to show meaningful structural detail even in moderate focal length imaging setups, while still fitting comfortably within typical camera sensor fields of view.
Brightness, distance and size
The object has an apparent magnitude of 10.2 mag, it lies about 13.4 million light-years from Earth and spans roughly 15,800 light-years across. On the sky it appears about 4.1′ × 2.9′ in size.
