NGC 6646 is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Lyra. It was discovered by German-British astronomer William Herschel on 26 June 1802.
Observation Data (J2000 epoch)
- Constellation: Lyra
- Right ascension: 18h 29m 38.742s
- Declination: +39° 51′ 54.528″
- Redshift: 0.019227
- Heliocentric radial velocity: 5,764 ± 34 km/s
- Distance: Approximately 271 million light-years (83.2 Mpc)
- Apparent magnitude (V): 12.6
- Apparent magnitude (B): 13.5
Characteristics
- Type: Sa (spiral galaxy with tightly wound arms)
- Luminosity class: I
- Estimated size: Approximately 173,900 light-years (53.33 kpc) in diameter
- Surface brightness: 13.40 mag/arcmin²
Supernova One supernova has been observed in NGC 6646: SN 2024gqf, a Type Ia supernova (magnitude 19.7), discovered by the Catalina Real-time Transient Survey on 15 April 2024.
Other Designations UGC 11258, MCG +07-38-008, PGC 61944, CGCG 228-010
NGC 6646 is situated north of the celestial equator and is more easily visible from the northern hemisphere. Due to its B magnitude of 13.7, it requires a telescope with an aperture of at least 14 inches (350 mm) for visual observation.
