NGC 4278

NGC 4278
NGC 4278 by the Hubble Space Telescope
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation	Coma Berenices
Right ascension	12h 20m 06.8s[1]
Declination	+29° 16′ 51″[1]
Redshift	0.002068 ± 0.000017 [1]
Heliocentric radial velocity	620 ± 5 km/s[1]
Distance	55.1 ± 19 Mly (16.9 ± 5.9 Mpc)[1]
Group or cluster	Coma I
Apparent magnitude (V)	10.2 [2]
Characteristics
Type	E1-2 [1]
Apparent size (V)	4.1′ × 3.8′[1]
Notable features	LINER
Other designations
UGC 7386, CGCG 158-077, MCG +05-29-062, B2 1217+29, PGC 39764[1]

NGC 4278 is an elliptical galaxy located in the constellation Coma Berenices. It is located at a distance of circa 55 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 4278 is about 65,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on March 13, 1785.^[3] NGC 4278 is part of the Herschel 400 Catalogue and can be found about one and 3/4 of a degree northwest of Gamma Comae Berenices even with a small telescope.^[4]