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A Complete Guide to the Solar System and the Night Sky
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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 »  Draco »  Deep Sky Objects » 

NGC 6503 - Spiral Galaxy in Draco

Altitude: 58.3°   Azimuth: 327.1°   Direction: North-North-West

NGC 6503 is a Spiral Galaxy in the Draco constellation. NGC 6503 is situated close to the northern celestial pole and, as such, it is visible for most part of the year from the northern hemisphere.

The image below is a photograph of NGC 6503 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 NGC 6503 - Spiral Galaxy in Draco star
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DSS2 image of NGC 6503 in the Red band. The green region on the image is a representation of the major (5.94 arcmin) and minor (1.98 arcmin) axes of the object's apparent size.

Key facts about NGC 6503

NGC 6503
Galaxy
Draco

NGC 6503 is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.

Altitude: 58.3°
Azimuth: 327.1°
Direction: North-North-West

See also NGC 6503 rise and set times.

Given its visual magnitude of 10.28, NGC 6503 is visible with the help of a binocular with a 80mm aperture or a small telescope.

Available Resources for NGC 6503 - Spiral Galaxy in Draco

Photometric information of NGC 6503

The following table lists the magnitude of NGC 6503 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).

10.95
10.28
8.2
7.52
7.3

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 NGC 6503.

22.55 mag/arcsec2

Apparent size of NGC 6503

The following table reports NGC 6503 apparent angular size. The green area displayed on top of the DSS2 image of NGC 6503 is a visual representation of it.
5.94 arcmin
1.98 arcmin
123°

NGC 6503 - Spiral Galaxy in Draco morphological classification

NGC 6503 - Spiral Galaxy in Draco is classified as Spiral (SAc) according to the Hubble and de Vaucouleurs galaxy morphological classification. The diagram below shows a visual representation of the position of NGC 6503 - Spiral Galaxy in Draco in the Hubble de Vaucouleurs sequence.

NGC 6503 - Spiral Galaxy in Draco
Visualization of the morphological classification of NGC 6503 - Spiral Galaxy in Draco, Spiral (SAc).
Credits for the background image: Antonio Ciccolella / M. De Leo / CC BY

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of NGC 6503

Celestial coordinates for the J2000 equinox of NGC 6503 are provided in the following table:

17h 49m 26s
+70° 08’ 39”

The simplified sky charts below show the position of NGC 6503 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 NGC 6503 - Spiral Galaxy in Draco star
Simplified finder chart for NGC 6503 - Spiral Galaxy in Draco.

Finder chart NGC 6503 - Spiral Galaxy in Draco star
Simplified finder chart for NGC 6503 - Spiral Galaxy in Draco.

Rise and set times of NGC 6503 from your location

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

NGC 6503 - Spiral Galaxy in Draco is circumpolar and transits at 06:00 UTC (altitude: 71.3°)