NGC 2 is located about 345 million light-years from theSolar System, with a magnitude of +14.2, while the distance toNGC 1 is 210 million light-years. Although visually close in the sky, NGC 1 and NGC 2 are at very different distances; were they stars, they would be referred to as an "optical double" as seen from Earth.[3]
AGC 102559, a spiral galaxy 60,000 light-years in diameter, is the closest galaxy to NGC 2, only 1.8 million light-years from it. Although it is quite close to NGC 1, the latter is closer and unrelated to NGC 2.
NGC 2 is aspiral galaxy with a diameter of about 60 thousand light-years, smaller than the size of theMilky Way.[4]
NGC 2 is first cataloged as GC 6246, an addendum to Dreyer's 1877 Supplement to the General Catalogue of Nebulae And Clusters of Stars. The object is cataloged asUGC 59,PGC 567,CGCG 478–027, andMCG +04-01-026.
