NGC 669 is an early spiral galaxy in Triangulum, 340 million light-years away
NGC 669 is an early spiral galaxy in the constellation Triangulum , 340 million light-years away. It shines at magnitude 12.3 and spans 2.3′ × 34″ of sky, about 231,700 light-years across. It is faint: a 10-inch or larger telescope, or a camera, and it is highest in the evening sky in December.
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 669 from Alaybasan
Alaybasan
NGC 669
TRIANGULUM
NGC 669 lies 4.6° west of Alaybasan , the magnitude 3.0 star. Three fingers held at arm's length cover about 5°.
NGC 669 is highest in the evening in December
JAN
FEB
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MAY
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JUL
AUG
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OCT
NOV
DEC
60°N
JAN at 60°N: 53° high at 9 pm FEB at 60°N: 38° high at 9 pm MAR at 60°N: 25° high at 9 pm APR at 60°N: 14° high at 9 pm MAY at 60°N: 7° high at 9 pm JUN at 60°N: 6° high at 9 pm JUL at 60°N: 11° high at 9 pm AUG at 60°N: 22° high at 9 pm SEP at 60°N: 36° high at 9 pm OCT at 60°N: 51° high at 9 pm NOV at 60°N: 63° high at 9 pm DEC at 60°N: 64° high at 9 pm 50°N
JAN at 50°N: 56° high at 9 pm FEB at 50°N: 37° high at 9 pm MAR at 50°N: 20° high at 9 pm APR at 50°N: 6° high at 9 pm MAY at 50°N: -3° high at 9 pm JUN at 50°N: -4° high at 9 pm JUL at 50°N: 3° high at 9 pm AUG at 50°N: 16° high at 9 pm SEP at 50°N: 34° high at 9 pm OCT at 50°N: 53° high at 9 pm NOV at 50°N: 71° high at 9 pm DEC at 50°N: 73° high at 9 pm 40°N
JAN at 40°N: 56° high at 9 pm FEB at 40°N: 34° high at 9 pm MAR at 40°N: 15° high at 9 pm APR at 40°N: -2° high at 9 pm MAY at 40°N: -12° high at 9 pm JUN at 40°N: -14° high at 9 pm JUL at 40°N: -5° high at 9 pm AUG at 40°N: 10° high at 9 pm SEP at 40°N: 30° high at 9 pm OCT at 40°N: 52° high at 9 pm NOV at 40°N: 75° high at 9 pm DEC at 40°N: 80° high at 9 pm 30°N
JAN at 30°N: 54° high at 9 pm FEB at 30°N: 30° high at 9 pm MAR at 30°N: 9° high at 9 pm APR at 30°N: -10° high at 9 pm MAY at 30°N: -22° high at 9 pm JUN at 30°N: -24° high at 9 pm JUL at 30°N: -14° high at 9 pm AUG at 30°N: 4° high at 9 pm SEP at 30°N: 26° high at 9 pm OCT at 30°N: 50° high at 9 pm NOV at 30°N: 74° high at 9 pm DEC at 30°N: 79° high at 9 pm 20°N
JAN at 20°N: 49° high at 9 pm FEB at 20°N: 25° high at 9 pm MAR at 20°N: 3° high at 9 pm APR at 20°N: -18° high at 9 pm MAY at 20°N: -32° high at 9 pm JUN at 20°N: -33° high at 9 pm JUL at 20°N: -22° high at 9 pm AUG at 20°N: -2° high at 9 pm SEP at 20°N: 21° high at 9 pm OCT at 20°N: 45° high at 9 pm NOV at 20°N: 68° high at 9 pm DEC at 20°N: 71° high at 9 pm 10°N
JAN at 10°N: 44° high at 9 pm FEB at 10°N: 19° high at 9 pm MAR at 10°N: -3° high at 9 pm APR at 10°N: -25° high at 9 pm MAY at 10°N: -41° high at 9 pm JUN at 10°N: -43° high at 9 pm JUL at 10°N: -30° high at 9 pm AUG at 10°N: -9° high at 9 pm SEP at 10°N: 16° high at 9 pm OCT at 10°N: 39° high at 9 pm NOV at 10°N: 60° high at 9 pm DEC at 10°N: 62° high at 9 pm 0°
JAN at 0°: 37° high at 9 pm FEB at 0°: 14° high at 9 pm MAR at 0°: -9° high at 9 pm APR at 0°: -33° high at 9 pm MAY at 0°: -50° high at 9 pm JUN at 0°: -53° high at 9 pm JUL at 0°: -38° high at 9 pm AUG at 0°: -15° high at 9 pm SEP at 0°: 10° high at 9 pm OCT at 0°: 33° high at 9 pm NOV at 0°: 51° high at 9 pm DEC at 0°: 53° high at 9 pm 10°S
JAN at 10°S: 29° high at 9 pm FEB at 10°S: 7° high at 9 pm MAR at 10°S: -15° high at 9 pm APR at 10°S: -39° high at 9 pm MAY at 10°S: -59° high at 9 pm JUN at 10°S: -62° high at 9 pm JUL at 10°S: -45° high at 9 pm AUG at 10°S: -21° high at 9 pm SEP at 10°S: 4° high at 9 pm OCT at 10°S: 26° high at 9 pm NOV at 10°S: 41° high at 9 pm DEC at 10°S: 43° high at 9 pm 20°S
JAN at 20°S: 21° high at 9 pm FEB at 20°S: 1° high at 9 pm MAR at 20°S: -20° high at 9 pm APR at 20°S: -45° high at 9 pm MAY at 20°S: -67° high at 9 pm JUN at 20°S: -71° high at 9 pm JUL at 20°S: -51° high at 9 pm AUG at 20°S: -26° high at 9 pm SEP at 20°S: -2° high at 9 pm OCT at 20°S: 18° high at 9 pm NOV at 20°S: 32° high at 9 pm DEC at 20°S: 33° high at 9 pm 30°S
JAN at 30°S: 13° high at 9 pm FEB at 30°S: -5° high at 9 pm MAR at 30°S: -25° high at 9 pm APR at 30°S: -49° high at 9 pm MAY at 30°S: -73° high at 9 pm JUN at 30°S: -79° high at 9 pm JUL at 30°S: -55° high at 9 pm AUG at 30°S: -31° high at 9 pm SEP at 30°S: -8° high at 9 pm OCT at 30°S: 10° high at 9 pm NOV at 30°S: 22° high at 9 pm DEC at 30°S: 23° high at 9 pm 40°S
JAN at 40°S: 5° high at 9 pm FEB at 40°S: -11° high at 9 pm MAR at 40°S: -29° high at 9 pm APR at 40°S: -52° high at 9 pm MAY at 40°S: -74° high at 9 pm JUN at 40°S: -80° high at 9 pm JUL at 40°S: -57° high at 9 pm AUG at 40°S: -35° high at 9 pm SEP at 40°S: -14° high at 9 pm OCT at 40°S: 2° high at 9 pm NOV at 40°S: 13° high at 9 pm DEC at 40°S: 14° 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 54°S, and never sets north of 54°N.
NGC 669 is 340 million light-years away
The light seen from NGC 669 tonight left it about 340 million years ago, long before modern humans existed. Distance source: Cosmicflows-4 (Tully et al. 2023).
Objects within 6° of NGC 669
138 NGC and IC objects lie within 6°. The nearest that are brighter than magnitude 12.5 or have their own page:
NGC 679, lenticular galaxy, 33′ NGC 687, lenticular galaxy, 1.0° NGC 634, early spiral galaxy, 1.8° NGC 753, mixed spiral galaxy, 2.1° NGC 752, open cluster, 3.1° NGC 736, elliptical galaxy, 3.2° IC 179, elliptical galaxy, 3.6° NGC 797 NED02, mixed spiral galaxy, 4.1°
NGC 669 catalog data
Field Value
Constellation Triangulum Designations NGC 669, 2MASX J01471616+3533478, IRAS 01443+3519, MCG +06-05-004, PGC 006560, UGC 01248 Type early spiral galaxy (Sab) Right ascension (J2000) 01h 47.3m Declination (J2000) +35° 34′ Magnitude 12.3 (B 13.0) Surface brightness 23.1 mag/arcmin² Apparent size 2.3′ × 34″ Position angle 36° True size 231,700 light-years Distance 340 million light-years (Cosmicflows-4 (Tully et al. 2023)) Radial velocity 4,583 km/s, redshift 0.01541 Best with Large telescope Best month December Catalog page NGC 501 to 1000
