Your Guide to the Solar System and the Night Sky
Content Menu
Major Objects Bright Comets Asteroids Near Earth Objects Space Probes Constellations & Deep Sky Objects Supernovae Solar Eclipses
3D Solar System Viewer Online Planetarium
Set Observing Location What is Visible Now Tonight's Observing Guide Moon Calendar Create Quick Access Page
Articles Donate
About
Feedback
Objects
Major Objects Bright Comets Asteroids Near Earth Objects Space Probes Constellations & Deep Sky Objects Supernovae
Charts
3D Solar System Viewer Online Planetarium
Plan Observations
Set Observing Location What is Visible Now Tonight's Observing Guide Moon Calendar Create Quick Access Page
Solar Eclipses
More
Articles Donate
About
Feedback
✖ This site is free and ad-free thanks to the support of our users. If you can, please consider a donation.
public Observing fromLocation: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt
north SunriseRise: 6:46  
clear_day Transit: 12:51  
SunsetSet: 18:55 south
sunny  • Daytime • What's Visible Now

Support us

If you like TheSkyLive.com please consider a donation to support this project. Thank you!

In Evidence

Best Places to See the 2024 American Eclipse Based on Historical Weather Data
Using historical cloud coverage data we suggest the locations that could provide the better chances to have clear skies on April 8, 2024 to observe the eclipse. Read more...

Other deep sky objects in Ursa Major
All Constellations »  Ursa Major »  Deep Sky Objects » 

Messier 109 - Spiral Galaxy in Ursa Major

Altitude: 88.1°   Azimuth: 358.5°   Direction: North

Messier 109 is a Spiral Galaxy in the Ursa Major constellation. Messier 109 is situated north of the celestial equator and, as such, it is more easily visible from the northern hemisphere.

Messier 109
Galaxy
Ursa Major

Messier 109 is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.

Altitude: 88.1°
Azimuth: 358.5°
Direction: North

See also Messier 109 rise and set times.

Given its visual magnitude of 9.88, Messier 109 is visible with the help of a binocular with a 80mm aperture or a small telescope.

Available Resources for Messier 109 - Spiral Galaxy in Ursa Major

Photometric information of Messier 109

The following table lists the magnitude of Messier 109 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).

10.94
9.88
7.85
7.19
6.94

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 Messier 109.

23.45 mag/arcsec2

Apparent size of Messier 109

The following table reports Messier 109 apparent angular size. The green area displayed on top of the DSS2 image of Messier 109 is a visual representation of it.
8.07 arcmin
5.64 arcmin
78°

Digitized Sky Survey image of Messier 109

The image below is a photograph of Messier 109 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 Messier 109 - Spiral Galaxy in Ursa Major star
/>
DSS2 image of Messier 109 in the Red band. The green region on the image is a representation of the major (8.07 arcmin) and minor (5.64 arcmin) axes of the object's apparent size.

Messier 109 - Spiral Galaxy in Ursa Major morphological classification

Messier 109 - Spiral Galaxy in Ursa Major is classified as Spiral (SAbc) according to the Hubble and de Vaucouleurs galaxy morphological classification. The diagram below shows a visual representation of the position of Messier 109 - Spiral Galaxy in Ursa Major in the Hubble de Vaucouleurs sequence.

Messier 109 - Spiral Galaxy in Ursa Major
Visualization of the morphological classification of Messier 109 - Spiral Galaxy in Ursa Major, Spiral (SAbc).
Credits for the background image: Antonio Ciccolella / M. De Leo / CC BY

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of Messier 109

Celestial coordinates for the J2000 equinox of Messier 109 are provided in the following table:

11h 57m 36s
+53° 22’ 28”

The simplified sky charts below show the position of Messier 109 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 Messier 109 - Spiral Galaxy in Ursa Major star
Simplified finder chart for Messier 109 - Spiral Galaxy in Ursa Major.

Finder chart Messier 109 - Spiral Galaxy in Ursa Major star
Simplified finder chart for Messier 109 - Spiral Galaxy in Ursa Major.

Rise ans set times of Messier 109 from your location

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

Messier 109 - Spiral Galaxy in Ursa Major is circumpolar and transits at 11:49 UTC (altitude: 88.1°)