We use cookies to deliver essential features and to measure their performance. Learn more.
✖ Keep TheSkyLive Ad-Free Donate Now!
menu
A Complete Guide to the Solar System and the Night Sky
FAQ
public Location: Greenwich, UK
Timezone: Europe/London
Sunrise: 5:19 
Transit: 13:06 
Sunset: 20:52
sunny   (Daytime)   What's Visible Now?

❤ Support this Project

TheSkyLive is entirely ad-free thanks to the support of our users. If you find this service valuable, please consider making a contribution, thank you!
Donate with PayPal button

Other deep sky objects in Andromeda
All Constellations »  Andromeda »  Deep Sky Objects » 

Messier 32 - Elliptical Galaxy in Andromeda

Above the horizon.  Circumpolar today
Alt: 2.88°   Az: 352.53°   Direction: North

Messier 32 is a Elliptical Galaxy in the Andromeda constellation. Messier 32 is situated north of the celestial equator and, as such, it is more easily visible from the northern hemisphere. Given its visual magnitude of 8.08, Messier 32 is visible with the help of a binocular with a 40-50mm aperture or a small telescope.

The image below is a photograph of Messier 32 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 0.5000x0.5000 degrees (30.00x30.00 arcmins).

Image of Messier 32 - Elliptical Galaxy in Andromeda star
/>
DSS2 image of Messier 32 in the Red band. The green region on the image is a representation of the major (7.74 arcmin) and minor (4.86 arcmin) axes of the object's apparent size.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

00h 44m 02s
+40° 59’ 58”
11h 20m 21s
12h 04m 24s

J2000

00h 42m 42s
+40° 51’ 55”

Finder Chart

The simplified sky charts below show the position of Messier 32 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 Messier 32 - Elliptical Galaxy in Andromeda star
Simplified finder chart for Messier 32 - Elliptical Galaxy in Andromeda.

Finder chart Messier 32 - Elliptical Galaxy in Andromeda star
Simplified finder chart for Messier 32 - Elliptical Galaxy in Andromeda.

Photometric Information

The following table lists the magnitude of Messier 32 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).

9.03
8.08
6.28
5.37
5.1

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 Messier 32.

22.17 mag/arcsec2

Apparent Size

The following table reports Messier 32 apparent angular size. The green area displayed on top of the DSS2 image of Messier 32 is a visual representation of it.
7.74 arcmin
4.86 arcmin
170°

Morphological Classification

Messier 32 - Elliptical Galaxy in Andromeda is classified as Elliptical (E) according to the Hubble and de Vaucouleurs galaxy morphological classification. The diagram below shows a visual representation of the position of Messier 32 - Elliptical Galaxy in Andromeda in the Hubble de Vaucouleurs sequence.

Messier 32 - Elliptical Galaxy in Andromeda
Visualization of the morphological classification of Messier 32 - Elliptical Galaxy in Andromeda, Elliptical (E).
Credits for the background image: Antonio Ciccolella / M. De Leo / CC BY

Rise and Set Times

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

Messier 32 - Elliptical Galaxy in Andromeda is circumpolar and transits at 04:18 UTC (altitude: 79.5°)