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NGC 300 is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Sculptor. It is one of the closest galaxies to the Local Group, and probably lies between us and the Sculptor Group. It is the brightest of the five main spirals in the direction of the Sculptor Group. It is inclined at an angle of 42° when viewed from Earth and shares many characteristics of the Triangulum Galaxy (M33) [Wikipedia Reference].
At a distance variously estimated to be from 6 - 7 million light-years, this galaxy is a good substitute for M33 at HawkRAO, located at a declination of −37° 41′ 04″.
It is largely face-on to Earth (like M33) and with angular dimensions of 21′.9 × 15′.5, covers an area of sky similar in extent to the Moon.
Unfortunately, compared to M33, NGC300 is a more difficult object to detect, lying at twice the distance of M33 - e.g. ~ 6 - 7 million light-years, or ~ 56,764,383,000,000,000,000 km.
Looking at the LAB Survey results for a 6° beamwidth, the comparison shows NGC300 is nearly 9 dB down on the brightness temperature of M33...
...and while the radial velocities are virtually mirror-images of each other, NGC300 is closer to the 0 km/s rest velocity - further complicating the extraction of the NGC300 signal from the foreground 'Milky Way' HI signals.
At the moment the detection of NGC300 remains a future activity. Success or otherwise will be detailed on the results page in the future.
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