An NGC primer

NGC 457: Also known as the Owl Cluster, this birdlike formation of bright stars sparkles in small telescopes.

NGC 2903: The bright galaxy in Leo has sweeping arms and a condensed nucleus.

NGC 4649 and NGC 4647: NGC 4649, more commonly known as M60, is a bright elliptical galaxy in the Virgo Cluster. Its massive halo abuts the spiral galaxy NGC 4647, visible in the same telescopic field of view.

NGC 7027: The peculiar planetary nebula  in Cygnus appears boxlike in shape, its gas squeezed out around a ring of dust surrounding the central star.

NGC 6781: One of the sky’s most unusual planetary nebulae, NGC 6781 in Aquila shows a ghostly ring of light that is brighter on one side than the other, and a faint bluish central star.