M 94 Deep sky · Galaxy in Canes Venatici · M 94 · NGC 4736
Croc's Eye Galaxy
A spiral galaxy in Canes Venatici with a bright inner ring where stars are being born in a rush.
Save the chart (SVG) Tactile chart (A4 SVG)
- Type
- Galaxy
- Designations
- M 94 · NGC 4736
- Constellation
- Canes Venatici
- Apparent magnitude
- 8.2
- Apparent size
- 11′ × 9′
- Position (J2000)
- RA 12h 51m · Dec +41° 07′
The full Moon, about 31′ across, is 2.8 times as wide. The Sun comes no nearer to it than 42°, around mid September, so it is never lost in the Sun’s glare, which reaches about 15° out.
When to see it
On the night of Thu 1 Apr 2027, when it is highest around midnight, on each city’s own clock:
| From | Rises | Highest | Sets |
|---|---|---|---|
| London GMT+1 | Never sets | 01:12 · 79° | — |
| New York EDT | 15:54 | 01:06 · 90° | 10:18 |
| Singapore GMT+8 | 19:13 | 01:17 · 50° | 07:21 |
| Sydney GMT+11 | 21:31 | 01:08 · 15° | 04:45 |
Common questions
- Can I see it from 50° north?
- Yes, on any clear night of the year — it is circumpolar from there and never quite sets, though at its lowest it skims the horizon, where trees and haze will hide it.
- Can I see it from 35° south?
- Yes. It rises and sets, and at its highest it stands 14° up in the north.
- When is the best time of year to see it?
- Around early April, when it stands opposite the Sun and is highest at midnight. It comes round about two hours earlier each month, so by early July it is highest in the early evening, and in late December not until the hours before dawn.
- How bright is it?
- Magnitude 8.2 in total, but that light is spread over 11′ × 9′ of sky: on average 21.9 magnitudes per square arcsecond. Against a dark country sky that average stands out; a city’s glow drowns all but its brightest parts.
- Naked eye, binoculars or telescope?
- Binoculars. At magnitude 8.2 it is past the eye, but a 50 mm pair under a dark sky reaches about magnitude 11.0.
Look for
It lies north of the line between Cor Caroli and the end of the Big Dipper’s handle. A small telescope shows a bright core like an eye.
Look for
From 50° north it is circumpolar and never sets; from 35° north it climbs to 84°; from the equator it climbs to 49°; from 35° south it climbs to 14°.
Look for
Magnitude 8.2 against the faintest star each can show: the eye under a city sky, 4.5 (3.7 short); the eye under a dark country sky, 7.0 (1.2 short); 50 mm binoculars under that dark sky, 11.0 (2.8 to spare); a 100 mm telescope there, 12.5 (4.3 to spare). Those limits are for a point of light; its light is spread over its whole size, so it needs some of that margin in hand. Through 7×50 binoculars, whose field is about 7.1° across, it spans 3% of the field’s width; through a 100 mm telescope at 50×, a field about 1° across, it spans 19% of the field’s width.