<p>There are no naked eye galaxies in Orion. The brightest galaxies in Orion are NGC1924 (a magnitude 13 barred spiral, 130 million lightyear distant) and IC421 (a magnitude 14 spiral that hosted a supernova visible in 2013, 150 million ly distant)</p>

<p>In the neighbouring constellation of Eriandus is NGC1600 (a large elliptical galaxy with magnitude 12 with an especially large supermassive black hole. 150 million ly distant)</p>

<p>None of these can be seen with the naked eye. They are all well below the naked eye limit of about magnitude 6  (smaller magnitude is brighter)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-11T11:50:56.053Z
Can they appear with long exposure without any magnification other than a smartphone camera? I mean one or both M42 and M43. State of the art smartphone let open for a while can show at least amazing star fields...
Alchimista
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-01T19:30:59.880Z
2019-11-01T19:30:59.880Z
James K
<p>The short answer is there are no galaxies in or around Orion that are visible to the naked eye.</p>

<p>The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has some simplified <a href="https://www.iau.org/public/themes/constellations/" rel="noreferrer">star charts for each constellation</a>. The charts show galaxies the brightest galaxies that are visible in amateur telescopes as red ovals. The chart for Orion and the surrounding constellations show no galaxies. Of course, larger telescopes are able to show fainter objects, so you are bound to find a galaxy in every constellation with a large enough telescope. 
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/B6MoY.gif" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/B6MoY.gif" alt="constellation of Orion"></a></p>

<p>The galaxies that are easily visible to the naked eye are as follows: (There are a few other that are visible to the naked eye, but they are not as obvious.)</p>

<ul>
<li>Large Magellanic Cloud in the constellations of Dorado and Mensa</li>
<li>Small Magellanic Cloud in the constellations of Tucana and Hydrus</li>
<li>Andromeda Galaxy in the constellation of Andromeda</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-01T16:26:34.750Z
2019-11-01T16:26:34.750Z
JohnHoltz
<p>I'm writing a story for NaNoWriMo, and in it there is an extraterrestrial race whose home galaxy is visible from Earth. This home galaxy is visible (or even partially visible or barely visible) in the night sky as a close neighbor to the Orion constellation. "Close neighbor", as in "within or around" the Orion constellation. </p>

<p>Is there any such galaxy?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-01T15:07:13.940Z
"Close neighbor", as in "within or around" the Orion constellation
Matt B.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-03T16:05:11.790Z
Matt, good question but you should clarify if you mean *visible to the naked eye* or visible with *telescopes* and other equipment.
Fattie
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-03T23:14:07.877Z
Hi there! Galaxies are really really far away. An extraterrestrial would likely come from a star in OUR galaxy.
Paul Cezanne
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-04T16:08:30.780Z
@Fattie sorry about that, I meant visible by any means, so the use of telescopes (personal and building-sized) is allowed. It seems other users have answered with respect to both cases, so that is appreciated :)
Matt B.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-04T16:32:48.097Z
@MattB. the answer to your question is (1) vast numbers of galaxies exist in ***every*** direction from Earth, they are totally uniform in the universe (overall). ***BUT*** (2) you just happen to have picked a direction .... looking in to the middle of the milky way!!!!  Of course obviously, we can't see anything in that direction except the huge mess of our own milky way.
Fattie
<galaxy><constellations>
Are there any galaxies visible in the night sky around the Orion constellation?
Matt B.
# Are there any galaxies visible in the night sky around the Orion constellation?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-11-01)

I'm writing a story for NaNoWriMo, and in it there is an extraterrestrial race whose home galaxy is visible from Earth. This home galaxy is visible (or even partially visible or barely visible) in the night sky as a close neighbor to the Orion constellation. "Close neighbor", as in "within or around" the Orion constellation.

Is there any such galaxy?

**Tags:** galaxy, constellations

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: "Close neighbor", as in "within or around" the Orion constellation  
> **username_1**: username_0, good question but you should clarify if you mean *visible to the naked eye* or visible with *telescopes* and other equipment.  
> **username_2**: Hi there! Galaxies are really really far away. An extraterrestrial would likely come from a star in OUR galaxy.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 sorry about that, I meant visible by any means, so the use of telescopes (personal and building-sized) is allowed. It seems other users have answered with respect to both cases, so that is appreciated :)  
> **username_1**: @MattB. the answer to your question is (1) vast numbers of galaxies exist in ***every*** direction from Earth, they are totally uniform in the universe (overall). ***BUT*** (2) you just happen to have picked a direction .... looking in to the middle of the milky way!!!!  Of course obviously, we can't see anything in that direction except the huge mess of our own milky way.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2019-11-01. Score: 11 | Accepted answer

The short answer is there are no galaxies in or around Orion that are visible to the naked eye.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has some simplified [star charts for each constellation](https://www.iau.org/public/themes/constellations/). The charts show galaxies the brightest galaxies that are visible in amateur telescopes as red ovals. The chart for Orion and the surrounding constellations show no galaxies. Of course, larger telescopes are able to show fainter objects, so you are bound to find a galaxy in every constellation with a large enough telescope.
[![constellation of Orion](https://i.sstatic.net/B6MoY.gif)](https://i.sstatic.net/B6MoY.gif)

The galaxies that are easily visible to the naked eye are as follows: (There are a few other that are visible to the naked eye, but they are not as obvious.)

* Large Magellanic Cloud in the constellations of Dorado and Mensa
* Small Magellanic Cloud in the constellations of Tucana and Hydrus
* Andromeda Galaxy in the constellation of Andromeda


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2019-11-01. Score: 9

There are no naked eye galaxies in Orion. The brightest galaxies in Orion are NGC1924 (a magnitude 13 barred spiral, 130 million lightyear distant) and IC421 (a magnitude 14 spiral that hosted a supernova visible in 2013, 150 million ly distant)

In the neighbouring constellation of Eriandus is NGC1600 (a large elliptical galaxy with magnitude 12 with an especially large supermassive black hole. 150 million ly distant)

None of these can be seen with the naked eye. They are all well below the naked eye limit of about magnitude 6 (smaller magnitude is brighter)

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: Can they appear with long exposure without any magnification other than a smartphone camera? I mean one or both M42 and M43. State of the art smartphone let open for a while can show at least amazing star fields...  

---

