Your appetite for galaxies thus whetted, turn your telescope eastward to a spot midway and slightly south of a line connecting Regulus (Alpha [α] Leonis) and Theta (θ) Leonis. Here, in an area just 1.5° across, you’ll find a quartet of 9th- to 10th-magnitude galaxies, three of which are recorded in Messier’s catalog. The southernmost two, the barred spiral
M95 and its spiral neighbor
M96, share the same eyepiece field. I find M95 to be fainter and more difficult to see, especially through small scopes.
The elliptical galaxy
M105, less than 1° north and slightly east of M95 and M96, is midway in brightness between the two and lies near the slightly fainter spiral galaxy
NGC 3384. A fifth galaxy, the 12th-magnitude spiral
NGC 3389, forms a tight triangle with M105 and NGC 3384. It’s the most challenging of this month’s galactic offerings. With averted vision under dark skies, I can barely glimpse it with a 4.5-inch reflector. Even through the 10-inch, it has a ghostly glow.
Our final port of call takes us to the Lion’s hindquarters, home of the Leo Trio. Theta again will serve as a guide star, this time in partnership with Iota (ι) Leonis. A low-power telescope search midway between them will pick up two Messier galaxies. The more westerly is
M65; its partner to the east is
M66. These 9th-magnitude spirals appear somewhat elongated through my 3-inch reflector. Viewed with the 10-inch scope, M66 seems more centrally concentrated.
Completing the Leo Trio is the edge-on spiral
NGC 3628, situated 1° north of M65 and M66. According to most deep-sky catalogs, this galaxy is 0.5 magnitude fainter than M66; however, the difference seems greater. That’s because NGC 3628 is longer than its neighbors, spreading its light over a larger area.
Galaxy hunting is an exciting activity, especially when done with a small-sized telescope. Imagine: a cosmic entity that’s tens of thousands of light-years across, tens of millions of light-years distant, and home to hundreds of billions of stars, yet captured with nothing more than a telescope whose diameter is measured in inches or centimeters!
Questions, comments, or suggestions? Email me at
gchaple@hotmail.com. Next month: Sulu, take us to the Virgo cluster, warp factor 5! Clear skies!