| NGC 503 | |
|---|---|
 SDSS view of NGC 503 | |
| Observation data (J2000[1]epoch) | |
| Constellation | Pisces[2] |
| Right ascension | 01h 23m 28.4s[3] |
| Declination | +33° 19′ 54″[3] |
| Redshift | 0.01975 ± 0.00007[1] |
| Heliocentric radial velocity | (5862 ± 21) km/s[1] |
| Distance | 265Mly[4] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 14.1[2] |
| Apparent magnitude (B) | 15.1[2] |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | E-S0[2] |
| Apparent size (V) | 0.9' × 0.7'[2] |
| Other designations | |
| PGC 5086,GC 5169,MGC +05-04-040,2MASS J01232845+3319542[1][5] | |
NGC 503, also occasionally referred to asPGC 5086 orGC 5169, is anelliptical galaxy in the constellationPisces.[2] It is located approximately 265 million light-years from theSolar System[4] and was discovered on 13 August 1863 byGermanastronomerHeinrich Louis d'Arrest.[5]
Arrest discovered NGC 503 using an 11"reflecting telescope inCopenhagen. His position matches perfectly with PGC 5086. At the time of discovery, he considered the possibility of having observed one ofWilliam Herschels discoveries (NGC 495,496,499).[6]John Louis Emil Dreyer, creator of theNew General Catalogue, described the galaxy as "extremely faint, extremely small" with a "double star 4 arcmin to southwest".[5]
