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public Observing fromLocation: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt
SunriseRise: 6:04  
clear_day Transit: 12:06  
SunsetSet: 18:09
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All Constellations »  Cetus »  Deep Sky Objects » 

IC 243 - Spiral Galaxy in Cetus

Altitude: -39.3°   Azimuth: 38.8°   Direction: North-East

IC 243 is a Spiral Galaxy in the Cetus constellation. IC 243 is situated close to the celestial equator and, as such, it is at least partly visible from both hemispheres in certain times of the year.

The image below is a photograph of IC 243 from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2 - see the credits section) taken in the red channel. The area of sky represented in the image is 0.5x0.5 degrees (30x30 arcmins).

Image of IC 243 - Spiral Galaxy in Cetus star
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DSS2 image of IC 243 in the Red band. The green region on the image is a representation of the major (1.22 arcmin) and minor (0.7 arcmin) axes of the object's apparent size.

Key facts about IC 243

IC 243
Galaxy
Cetus

IC 243 is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.

Altitude: -39.3°
Azimuth: 38.8°
Direction: North-East

See also IC 243 rise and set times.

Given its B magnitude of 15.46, IC 243 is visible with the help of a telescope having an aperture of 20 inches (500mm) or more.

Available Resources for IC 243 - Spiral Galaxy in Cetus

Photometric information of IC 243

The following table lists the magnitude of IC 243 in different bands of the electomagnetic spectrum (when available), from the B band (445nm wavelength, corresponding to the Blue color), to the V band ( 551nm wavelength, corresponding to Green/Yellow color), to the J, H, K bands (corresponding to 1220nm, 1630nm, 2190nm wavelengths respectively, which are colors not visible to the human eye).

15.46
11.61
10.91
10.53

For more information about photometry in astronomy, check the photometric system article on Wikipedia.

The surface brightess reported below is an indication of the brightness per unit of angular area of IC 243.

24.22 mag/arcsec2

Apparent size of IC 243

The following table reports IC 243 apparent angular size. The green area displayed on top of the DSS2 image of IC 243 is a visual representation of it.
1.22 arcmin
0.7 arcmin
20°

IC 243 - Spiral Galaxy in Cetus morphological classification

IC 243 - Spiral Galaxy in Cetus is classified as Spiral (SAa) according to the Hubble and de Vaucouleurs galaxy morphological classification. The diagram below shows a visual representation of the position of IC 243 - Spiral Galaxy in Cetus in the Hubble de Vaucouleurs sequence.

IC 243 - Spiral Galaxy in Cetus
Visualization of the morphological classification of IC 243 - Spiral Galaxy in Cetus, Spiral (SAa).
Credits for the background image: Antonio Ciccolella / M. De Leo / CC BY

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of IC 243

Celestial coordinates for the J2000 equinox of IC 243 are provided in the following table:

02h 38m 31s
-06° 54’ 07”

The simplified sky charts below show the position of IC 243 in the sky. The first chart has a field of view of 60° while the second one has a field of view of 10°.

Finder chart IC 243 - Spiral Galaxy in Cetus star
Simplified finder chart for IC 243 - Spiral Galaxy in Cetus.

Finder chart IC 243 - Spiral Galaxy in Cetus star
Simplified finder chart for IC 243 - Spiral Galaxy in Cetus.

Rise and set times of IC 243 from your location

Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London

Today's IC 243 - Spiral Galaxy in Cetus rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 96.9°
Max altitude: 31.6°
Azimuth: 263.1°