Constellation / Nickname / Best Time of Year to View (N.

Hemisphere)

Aquarius / The Water Bearer / Fall Aquila / The Eagle / Summer Aries / The Ram / Late Fall Bootes / The Herdsman / Late Spring Cancer / The Crab / Spring Canis Major / The Big Dog / Winter Canis Minor / The Little Dog / Winter Capricornus / The Sea Goat / Fall Cetus / The Whale / Fall Coma Berenices / Berenice's Hair / Spring Corona Borealis / The Northern Crown / Spring Corvus / The Crow / Spring Crater / The Cup / Spring Delphinus / The Dolphin / Fall Equuleus / The Little Horse / Fall Eridanus / The River / Fall Gemini / The Twins / Winter Hercules / The Strongman / Summer Hydra / The Water Snake / Spring Leo / The Lion / Spring Lepus / The Hare / Winter Libra / The Scales / Spring Lyra / The Lyre / Summer Monoceros / The Unicorn / Winter Ophiuchus / The Serpent Bearer / Summer Orion / The Hunter / Winter Pegasus / The Winged Horse / Fall Pisces / The Fish / Fall Puppis / The Stern / Winter Sagitta / The Arrow / Summer Sagittarius / The Archer / Summer Scorpius / The Scorpion / Summer Scutum / The Shield / Summer Serpens / The Serpent / Summer Sextans / The Sextant / Spring Taurus / The Bull / Winter Virgo / The Virgin / Spring Vulpecula / The Fox / Summer

Northern Constellations / Nicknames / Best Time to of Year to View

Andromeda / Woman in Chains / Fall Auriga / The Charioteer / Winter Camelopardalis / The Giraffe / All Year (North Circumpolar) Canes Venatici / The Hunting Dogs / Spring Cassiopeia / The Queen / All Year (North Circumpolar) Cepheus / The King / All Year (North Circumpolar)

Cygnus / The Swan / Summer Draco / The Dragon / All Year (North Circumpolar) Lacerta / The Lizard / Fall Leo Minor / The Little Lion / Spring Lynx / The Lynx / Winter Perseus / Soldier with Sword / Winter Triangulum / The Triangle / Fall Ursa Major / The Big Bear / All Year (North Circumpolar) Ursa Minor / The Little Bear / All Year (North Circumpolar)

Southern Constellations / Nickname / Best Time to of Year to View

Antlia / The Air Pump / Fall Apus / The Bird of Paradise / All Year (South Circumpolar) Ara / The Altar / All Year (South Circumpolar) Caelum / The Chisel / Summer Carina / The Keel / All Year (South Circumpolar) Centaurus / The Centaur / All Year (South Circumpolar) Chamaeleon / The Chamaeleon / All Year (South Circumpolar) Circinus / The Drawing Compass / All Year (South Circumpolar) Columba / The Dove / Summer Corona Australis / The Southern Crown / Winter Crux / The Southern Cross / All Year (South Circumpolar) Dorado / The Goldfish / All Year (South Circumpolar) Fornax / The Furnace / Summer Grus / The Crane / Spring Horologium / The Pendulum Clock / Summer Hydrus / The Lesser Water Snake / All Year (South Circumpolar) Indus / The Indian / All Year (South Circumpolar) Lupus / The Wolf / Fall Mensa / The Table Mountain / All Year (South Circumpolar) Microscopium / The Microscope / Spring Musca / The Fly / All Year (South Circumpolar) Norma / The Set Square / Fall Octans / The Octant / All Year (South Circumpolar) Pavo / The Peacock / All Year (South Circumpolar) Phoenix / The Phoenix / Spring Pictor / The Painter's Easel / All Year (South Circumpolar) Piscis Austrinus / The Southern Fish / Spring Pyxis / The Ship's Compass / Summer Reticulum / The Net / All Year (South Circumpolar) Sculptor / The Sculptor / Spring Telescopium / The Telescope / Winter Triangulum Australe / The Southern Triangle / All Year (South Circumpolar) Tucana / The Toucan / All Year (South Circumpolar) Vela / The Sails / Summer Volans / The Flying Fish / All Year (South Circumpolar)

Galaxy

Notes

M82

This is the prototype starburst galaxy.

M87

This is the central galaxy of the Virgo Cluster, the central cluster of the Local Supercluster

[1]

M102

This galaxy cannot be definitively identified, with the most likely candidate being NGC 5866, and a good chance of it being a misidentification of M101. Other candidates have also been suggested.

NGC 2770

NGC 2770 is referred to as the Supernova Factory due to three recent supernovae occurring within it.

NGC 3314 NGC 3314a NGC 3314b Lying in the galaxy cluster Abell 3627, this galaxy is being stripped of its gas by the pressure of the intracluster medium (ICM), due to its high speed traversal through the cluster, and is leaving a high density tail with large amounts of star formation. The tail features the largest amount of star formation outside of a galaxy seen so far. The galaxy has the appearance of a comet, with the head being the galaxy, [2][3][4][5] and a tail of gas and stars. Lying in galaxy cluster Abell 2667, this spiral galaxy is being tidally stripped of stars and gas through its high speed traversal through the cluster, having the appearance of a comet. This is a pair of spiral galaxies, one superimposed on another, at two separate and distinct ranges, and unrelated to each other. It is a rare chance visual alignment.

ESO 137001

Comet Galaxy

List of named galaxies

This is a list of galaxies that are well known by something other than an entry in a catalog or list, or a set of coordinates, or a systematic designation.

Galaxy

Origin of name

Notes

Milky Way Galaxy

This is the galaxy that contains Earth, it is named after the nebulosity in the night sky that marks the densest concentration of stars of our galaxy in the sky, which appears to blur together into a faint glow, called the Milky Way.

Andromeda

Commonly just Andromeda, this, called the Andromeda Galaxy,Andromeda Nebula, Great Andromeda Nebula, Andromeda Spiral Nebula, and such, has been traditionally called Andromeda, after the constellation in which it lies.

Bode's Galaxy

Named for Johann Elert Bode who discovered this galaxy in 1774.

Cartwheel Galaxy

Its visual appearance is similar to that of a spoked cartwheel.

Cigar Galaxy Appears similar in shape to a cigar.

Comet Galaxy

This galaxy is named after its unusual appearance, looking like a comet.

The comet effect is caused by tidal stripping by its galaxy cluster, Abell 2667.

Hoag's Object

This is named after Art Hoag, who discovered this ring galaxy.

It is of the subtype Hoag-type galaxy, and may in fact be a polar-ring galaxy with the ring in the plane of rotation of the central object.

Large Magellanic Cloud

Named after Ferdinand Magellan

This is the fourth largest galaxy in the Local Group, and forms a pair with the SMC, and from recent research, may not be part of the Milky Way

system of satellites at all.

Small Magellanic Cloud

Named after Ferdinand Magellan

This forms a pair with the LMC, and from recent research, may not be part of the Milky Way system of satellites at all.

Mayall's Object

This is named after Nicholas U. Mayall, of the Lick [6][7][8] Observatory, who discovered it.

Also called VV 32 and Arp 148, this is a very peculiar looking object, and is likely to be not one galaxy, but two galaxies undergoing a collision. Event in images is a spindle shape and a ring shape.

Pinwheel Galaxy

Similar in appearance to a pinwheel (toy).

Sombrero Galaxy

Similar in appearance to a sombrero.

Sunflower Galaxy

Tadpole Galaxy

This shape resulted from tidal The name comes from the resemblance of the galaxy interaction that drew out a long tidal to a tadpole. tail.

Whirlpool Galaxy

From the whirlpool appearance this gravitationally disturbed galaxy exhibits.

List of naked-eye galaxies

This is a list of galaxies that are visible to the naked-eye, for at the very least, keen-eyed observers in a very dark-sky environment that is high in altitude, during clear and stable weather. Naked-eye Galaxies

Galaxy

Apparent Magnitude

Distance

Notes

Milky Way Galaxy

-26.74 (theSun)

This is our galaxy, most things visible to the naked-eye in the sky are part of it, including theMilky Way composing [9] the Zone of Avoidance.

Large Magellanic Cloud

0.9

160 kly (50kpc)

Visible only from the southern hemisphere. It is also the [9][10][11] brightest patch of nebulosity in the sky.

Small Magellanic Cloud(NGC292)

2.7

200 kly (60kpc)

Visible only from the southern hemisphere.

[9][12]

Andromeda Galaxy (M31 , NGC224)

3.4

2.5 Mly (780kpc)

Once called the Great Andromeda Nebula, it is situated [9][13] in the Andromeda constellation.

Omega Centauri(NGC5139)

3.7

18 kly (5.5kpc)

Once thought to be a star and later a globular cluster, Omega Centauri was confirmed as having a black hole at its center and thus its status has been changed to being [14] a dwarf galaxy as of April 2010.

Triangulum Galaxy (M33 , NGC598)

5.7

Being a diffuse object, its visibility is strongly affected by 2.9 Mly (900 even small amounts of light pollution, ranging from kpc) easily visible in direct vision in truly dark skies to a [15] difficult averted vision object in rural/suburban skies.

Centaurus A(NGC 5128)

7.8

13.7 0.9 Mly (4.2 0.3 Mpc)

Centaurus A has been spotted with the naked eye by [16] Stephen James O'Meara

Bode's Galaxy(M81 , NGC3031)

7.89

12 Mly (3.6Mpc)

Highly experienced amateur astronomers may be able to see Messier 81 under exceptional observing [17][18][19] conditions.

Sculptor Galaxy (NGC 253)

8.0

11.4 0.7 Mly (3.5 0.2 Mpc)

According to Brian A. Skiff, the naked- ey visibility of this galaxy is discussed in an old Sky & Telescope letter or [20] note from the late 1960s or early 1970s.

Messier 83(NGC 5236) 8.2

14.7 Mly (4.5 Mpc)

M83 has reportedly been seen with the naked eye.

[21]

Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy is not listed, because it is not discernible as being a separate galaxy in the sky.

Firsts
Galactic Firsts

First

Galaxy

Date

Notes

First galaxy

Milky Way Galaxy &Andromeda Galaxy

Edwin Hubble determined the distance to the Andromeda Nebula, and found that it could not be part of the Milky Way, so defining that Milky Way was not the entire 1923 universe, and making the two separate objects, and two galaxies. However, the first galaxies seen would be all of the naked-eye galaxies, but they were not identified as such until the 20th century.

First radio galaxy

Cygnus A

Of several items, then called radio stars, Cygnus A was 1952 identified with a distant galaxy, being the first of many [22] radio stars to become a radio galaxy.

First quasar

3C273 3C48

3C273 was the first quasar with its redshift determined, 1962 and by some considered the first quasar. 3C48 was the 1960 first "radio-star" with an unreadable spectrum, and by others considered the first quasar.

First Seyfert galaxy NGC 1068(M77)

1908 The characteristics of Seyfert galaxies were first observed in M77 in 1908, however, Seyferts were defined as a class

in 1943.

[23]

First low surface brightness galaxy

Malin 1

1986

Malin 1 was the first verified LSB galaxy. LSB galaxies had [24] been first theorized in 1976.

First radio galaxy

Cygnus A

1951

[25]

First discovered object, later identified to be a cannibalized galaxy

Omega Centauri

Omega Centauri is considered the core of a disrupted dwarf spheroidal galaxy cannibalized by the Milky Way, and was originally catalogued in 1677 as a nebula. It is currently catalogued as a globular cluster.

First superluminal 3C279 galactic jet

1971 The jet is emitted by a quasar

First superluminal III Zw 2 jet from a Seyfert

2000

[26]

First spiral galaxy

Whirlpool Galaxy

Lord William Parsons, Earl of Rosse discovered the 1845 first spiral nebula from observing the M51 white [27] nebula.