NGC 2012

NGC 2012 is a large lenticular galaxy in the Constellation Mensa.^[1] It was discovered by John Herschel in 1836. With its distance from the Earth being over 236 million light years,^[2] NGC 2012 is not visible to the naked eye, and a large telescope is needed. A probe has never been sent out to study the galaxy.^[3]

NGC 2012
NGC 2012, as photographed during the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS2)
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation	Mensa
Right ascension	05h 22m 35s
Declination	-79° 51’ 06”
Distance	236.137 Mly (51.66 Mpc)
Apparent magnitude (V)	10.58
Apparent magnitude (B)	14.49
Surface brightness	23.29 mag/arcsec2
Characteristics
Type	E-SO
Apparent size (V)	1 arcmin
Notable features	N/A
Other designations
Leda 17194

Discovery

Polymath John Herschel observed the galaxy in 1836, and it was then added to the New General Catalog (NGC). The galaxy itself is a relatively long distance from Earth, making Herschel's find very uncommon for the time period.