These are the brightest galaxies south of declination -30, listed by magnitude. Object Mag
LMC 0.9
SMC 2.7
NGC 5128 7.8
NGC 0055 8.8
NGC 0300 9.0
NGC 6744 9.1
NGC 1313 9.2
NGC 1291 9.4
NGC 1316 9.4
NGC 7793 10.0
NGC 1399 10.0
NGC 2997 10.1
NGC 3621 10.2
NGC 1097 10.2
NGC 1553 10.3
NGC 1672 10.3
NGC 1365 10.3
NGC 1566 10.3
NGC 5102 10.4
NGC 1532 10.7
NGC 1433 10.7
NGC 1549 10.7
NGC 5643 10.7
NGC 1808 10.8
NGC 1792 10.9
NGC 5253 10.9
Reference http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/forms/byparams.html
Nice list but pity you didn't start at -25 Declination as you would have included NGC253; one of the finest galaxies in the entire sky.
Note galaxies of the same magnitude will only appear similar brightness if their size and orientation is similar. eg, a small 10 mag edge on spiral will appear much brighter than a large 10 mag face on sprial since the light is spread over a smaller area.
Yes, the question of just how bright a galaxy appears has come up a few times in our discussions before. Under dark skies the visual magnitude works well but where there is any significant skyglow, surface brightness is often a better indicator. However, some measure must be applied and based on visual magnitude, the list is very useful. I'm sure if a list was drawn up based on surface brightness, different galaxies would appear and likely exclude some of the brighter vmag-based ones.
Thanks for posting the list Glen. Regardless of the relative worth of visual magnitude versus surface brightness, it is a very good observation list. One that I will certainly be using soon. The reference web site is excellent.
