<p>As Andy pointed out, the spiral galaxy is IC 1296. You're correct that it's not in the Messier Catalog, but it's obviously in the revised Index Catalogue. <a href="http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/nph-objsearch?objname=IC%201296&amp;extend=no&amp;out_csys=Equatorial&amp;out_equinox=J2000.0&amp;obj_sort=RA+or+Longitude&amp;of=pre_text&amp;zv_breaker=30000.0&amp;list_limit=5&amp;img_stamp=YES" rel="nofollow">NED</a> and <a href="http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=%402868623&amp;Name=IC+1296&amp;submit=display+all+measurements" rel="nofollow">SIMBAD</a> have some more information on it:</p>

<ul>
<li><strong>Morphological type:</strong> SBbc, as classified according to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_sequence" rel="nofollow">Hubble sequence</a>. It's a spiral galaxy with two clearly visible arms.</li>
<li><strong>Redshift:</strong> 0.017075 $\pm$ 0.000070, according to <a href="http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/bib_query?1996AJ....112.1803M" rel="nofollow">Marzke et al. (1996)</a>.</li>
<li><strong>Distance:</strong> 66.6 Mpc to 68.9 Mpc after corrections, depending on your distance definition of choice (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angular_diameter_distance" rel="nofollow">angular diameter</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminosity_distance" rel="nofollow">luminosity</a>, etc.). Large uncertainties arise when calculating the difference from redshift. For comparison, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromeda_Galaxy" rel="nofollow">Andromeda</a> is approximately 0.78 Mpc away, and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_Nebula" rel="nofollow">Ring Nebula</a> is $10^{-3}$ times <em>that</em> distance.</li>
<li><strong>Apparent magnitude:</strong> 14.80 $\pm$ 0.30, at visible wavelengths. For comparison, the Ring Nebula's apparent magnitude is 8.8.</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-10-24T21:14:09.007Z
2016-10-24T21:14:09.007Z
HDE 226868
<p>Would anyone be able to reference the galaxy in the background of this image of the Ring Nebula:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/ICFHt.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/ICFHt.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>It's obviously not a Messier object, I'm more confident in it being in the New General Catalogue.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-08-30T13:15:29.713Z
It's IC 1296, see [this photograph](http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap091106.html)
Andy
<galaxy><observational-astronomy><messier-catalog><ngc>
Galaxy behind the Ring Nebula
MichaelJRoberts
# Galaxy behind the Ring Nebula

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-08-30)

Would anyone be able to reference the galaxy in the background of this image of the Ring Nebula:

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/ICFHt.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/ICFHt.jpg)

It's obviously not a Messier object, I'm more confident in it being in the New General Catalogue.

**Tags:** galaxy, observational-astronomy, messier-catalog, ngc

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: It's IC 1296, see [this photograph](http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap091106.html)  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2016-10-24. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

As username_1 pointed out, the spiral galaxy is IC 1296. You're correct that it's not in the Messier Catalog, but it's obviously in the revised Index Catalogue. [NED](http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/nph-objsearch?objname=IC%201296&extend=no&out_csys=Equatorial&out_equinox=J2000.0&obj_sort=RA+or+Longitude&of=pre_text&zv_breaker=30000.0&list_limit=5&img_stamp=YES) and [SIMBAD](http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=%402868623&Name=IC+1296&submit=display+all+measurements) have some more information on it:

* **Morphological type:** SBbc, as classified according to the [Hubble sequence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_sequence). It's a spiral galaxy with two clearly visible arms.
* **Redshift:** 0.017075 $\pm$ 0.000070, according to [Marzke et al. (1996)](http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/bib_query?1996AJ....112.1803M).
* **Distance:** 66.6 Mpc to 68.9 Mpc after corrections, depending on your distance definition of choice ([angular diameter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angular_diameter_distance), [luminosity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminosity_distance), etc.). Large uncertainties arise when calculating the difference from redshift. For comparison, [Andromeda](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromeda_Galaxy) is approximately 0.78 Mpc away, and the [Ring Nebula](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_Nebula) is $10^{-3}$ times *that* distance.
* **Apparent magnitude:** 14.80 $\pm$ 0.30, at visible wavelengths. For comparison, the Ring Nebula's apparent magnitude is 8.8.


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