Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 9, 2026

NGC 3

NGC 3 is a lenticular galaxy located 172 million light-years from Earth in the constellation of Pisces. It was discovered on November 29, 1864, by Albert Marth.

Last revised
Jul 9, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
261 w
Citations
12
Source
NGC 3
NGC 3 by the DESI Legacy Surveys
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
ConstellationPisces
Right ascension00h 07m 16.8s1
Declination+08° 18′ 06″1
Heliocentric radial velocity3900 ± 50 km/s1
Distance172 million light-years (53.9 mpc) 1
Apparent magnitude (V)14.21
Characteristics
TypeS01
Size~74,200 ly (22.75 kpc) (estimated)1
Apparent size (V)1.1' × 0.6'1
Other designations
Ark 1, IRAS 00047+0801, 2MASX J00071680+0818058, UGC 58, PGC 565, CGCG 408-035.1

NGC 3 is a lenticular galaxy located 172 million light-years from Earth in the constellation of Pisces. It was discovered on November 29, 1864, by Albert Marth.2

It has the morphological type of S0. However other sources classify NGC 3 as a barred spiral galaxy as a type of SBa.

Observational history

NGC 3 was discovered by the German astronomer Albert Marth on 29 November 1864 and was described as "faint, very small, round, almost stellar".2

Properties

NGC 3 is a lenticular galaxy, though other sources have referred to it as a barred spiral galaxy. It is located at a distance of about 172 million light-years from Earth, and has a magnitude of 14.2.1 NGC 3 appears to have a faint spiral arm structure, along with a weak bar.

Listing in astronomical catalogues

The object is cataloged as UGC 58, PGC 565, Ark 1, MCG+01-01-037, and CGCG 408–35.

References

References

  1. "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for NGC 0003. Retrieved 2006-11-04.
  2. Seligman, Courtney. "NGC 3". Celestial Atlas. Archived from the original on 6 November 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
External links