M77 Observation Details
M77 Daily Motion
M77 will become visible in July, 19. After being too close to the Sun to observe, it will reappear in the night sky. Starting from July, 19, M77 can be seen again, providing a good opportunity for observation.
M77 Visibility Timetable on May 20
M77 Rise and Set Timetable
| Time | Elevation | |
| M77 transit | 12:24 | 50° |
| M77 set | 18:23 | |
| Astrosession begin | 22:37 | -43° |
| Moon Rise, 52.6% illuminated | 02:29 | -41° |
| Astrosession end | 04:19 | -23° |
| M77 rise | 06:21 | |
| Moon Set | 13:16 | 48° |
Track M77 Position Throughout the Night
← Tue, 20 May 2025 →
| Time | |
| Altitude | |
| Azimuth |
M77 - Barred Spiral Galaxy
M77 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the constellation Cetus. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1780 and later cataloged by Charles Messier. M77 is one of the largest galaxies in the Messier catalog and is known for its active galactic nucleus.
M77 spans about 170,000 light-years across and contains a massive population of stars, gas, and dust. The galaxy is approximately 47 million light-years away from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 8.9, making it visible with a small telescope.
M77 Image Gallery
DSS Blue
DSS Red
DSS Near-Infrared
DSS Composite image
The photos are taken from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2), which was produced at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) under NASA contract, using data from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), the European Southern Observatory (ESO), and the National Geographic Society-Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS II).
Special thanks to the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, and the California Institute of Technology for their significant contributions.
Finder Chart for M77
| Object name | M77 |
| Field of view | |
| Limiting magnitude | |
| M77 coordinates | 2.71131, -0.01328 |
| Center coordinates | 2.71131, -0.01328 |
M77 Passage Through Night
Current position of M77
| Time | 01:30 |
| Latitude | 39.9625 |
| Longitude | -83.0061 |
| M77 elevation | -47° |
| M77 Azimuth | -26° |
Annual motion of M77
| Date | Wed, 21 May 2025 |
| Twighlight start | 22:34 |
| Twighlight end | 04:13 |
| Twighlight duration | 6h 39m |
| Rise | 06:17 |
| Set | 18:15 |
| Elevation at transit | 50° |
| Transit time | 12:16 |
| Equatorial coordinates | RA: 02h 42m 40s", Dec: 00° 00' 47s |
| Magnitude | 9 |
| Constellation | Cetus |
The graph is structured with the vertical axis showing the hours of the day, ranging from 12 AM to 12 AM the next day, while the horizontal axis spans each day of the year.
The reddish shaded area indicates the periods when the M77 is above the horizon, visible to observers. The white line marks the times when the celestial object reaches its highest point in the sky each day, known as the transit.
Data Credits
The nebulae information on this page is sourced from the OpenNGC project, developed by Matteo Verga. OpenNGC provides detailed data on the NGC catalog, which is a valuable resource for exploring deep-sky objects such as nebulae.
For more details or to contribute to OpenNGC, visit the official GitHub repository: OpenNGC on GitHub.