NGC 406

{{short description|Spiral galaxy in the constellation Tucana}}

{{Infobox galaxy

| name = NGC 406

| image = NGC 406 Tucana.jpg

| image_size = 260px

| caption = NGC 406, by Hubble Space Telescope

| epoch = J2000

| constellation name = Tucana

| ra = {{RA|01|07|25.060}}

| dec = {{DEC|-69|52|45.27}}

| z = 0.005030{{cite web|title=NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database|work=Results for NGC 406|url=http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/objsearch?objname=NGC+406&extend=no&hconst=73&omegam=0.27&omegav=0.73&corr_z=1&out_csys=Equatorial&out_equinox=J2000.0&obj_sort=RA+or+Longitude&of=pre_text&zv_breaker=30000.0&list_limit=5&img_stamp=YES|access-date=12 February 2017}}

| h_radial_v = 1508

| dist_ly = {{convert|20.329|+/-|1.923|Mpc|Mly|abbr=on|lk=on|order=flip}}

| group_cluster =

| type = SA(s)c{{cite simbad|title=NGC 406|access-date=12 February 2017}}

| size = {{convert|60000|ly|pc|abbr=on|lk=on}}

| appmag_v =

| appmag_b = 13.02

| absmag_v =

| size_v =

| notes =

| names = ESO 51-18, PGC 3980

}}

NGC 406 is a spiral galaxy quite similar to the well known Whirlpool Galaxy, located some 65 million light-years away, in the southern constellation of Tucana (the Toucan) and discovered in 1834 by John Herschel. It is described in the New General Catalogue as "faint, very large, round, very gradually a little brighter middle".{{Cite web|url=http://cseligman.com/text/atlas/ngc4.htm#406|title=New General Catalog Objects: NGC 400 - 449|website=cseligman.com|language=en-US|access-date=2018-01-23}} NGC 406 is about {{val|60000}} light-years across, roughly half the diameter of the Milky Way.