Observer's guide
About Barnard's Galaxy
Barnard's Galaxy (C57) is catalogued as a galaxy in Sagittarius. Its J2000 position is RA 19:44:57, Dec -14:48:12, corresponding to 296.2342 degrees RA and -14.7976 degrees Dec. The local catalogue places it about 1,630,000 light-years away. Its referenced angular extent is approximately 13.8 by 12.88 arcminutes.
Observing tips
StarWatchr rates this as a hard target at magnitude 9.3. It is associated with summer observing, with midnight placement typically strongest around July. From 52 degrees north its theoretical meridian altitude is about 23.2 degrees; local horizons and the live altitude chart determine the practical window.
Because it is faint, use a larger aperture where possible, avoid bright Moon conditions, and use averted vision.
What to expect
The SIMBAD classification for the matched source is G. SIMBAD records the morphology as IBm. A published radial velocity value is -57 km/s. The SIMBAD record currently connects it to 1670 bibliographic references.
At roughly 13.8 arcminutes across, it benefits from a narrower field and adequate image scale. Use the listed 13.8 by 12.88 arcminute extent to check framing, and treat catalogue magnitude as integrated brightness rather than a direct measure of visual contrast.