58 ASTRONOMY • MAY 2020W
e begin with our first needle, NGC 2683, located
within the borders of Lynx, but about 1° northwest
of magnitude 5.4 Sigma2 (σ2) Cancri. This luscious
magnitude 9.7 spiral, which tilts just 11° from edge-on, car-
ries the moniker “UFO Galaxy.” Through all instruments,
it appears as a silver needle (9' by 3') elongated northeast
to southwest. It also has a distinct sheen — like moonlight
glinting off the blade of a sword.
Now thread your way to Tania Australis (Mu [μ] Ursae
Majoris) and look only 45' west for the Little Pinwheel Galaxy
(NGC 3184). Seen nearly face-on, this magnitude 9.5 circular
glow sports a 7'-wide disk hugging a stellar core. At a magnifi-
cation of 100x, its disk breaks down into delicate waves of
impure light. Note that the northern flank is punctured by
an 11th-magnitude field star.Next, turn your attention 2° northeast of Phi (φ) UMa to the
spectacular edge-on gem NGC 3079. This galaxy tilts only 2°
from edge-on. It is one of the nearest and brightest Seyfert gal-
axies, which have both glowing, active cores and clearly visible
disks. Visible in a 4-inch scope at 100x, this 8'-by-1.5' streak of
light looks like a phantom Frisbee (oriented roughly north to
south) near a triangle of stars.
Heading northward, we encounter the peculiar grand-
design spiral NGC 3310. We see this face-on, 10.8-magnitude
starburst galaxy less than 3.5° southwest of 44 UMa. Through
a 4-inch telescope at 150x, it resembles a swollen planetary neb-
ula 3.5' across. It is one of the bluest spirals known, and it’s also
the brightest disturbed galaxy in the late Halton Arp’s Atlas of
Peculiar Galaxies. To see its arms well, however, will require at
least a 12-inch instrument.SECTION 1
The first section of sky we’ll examine lies in the constellations Lynx and Ursa Major.
DAN SMITH/ADAM BLOCK/NOAO/AURA/NSFKEN CRAWFORDADAM BLOCK/MOUNT LEMMON SKYCENTER/UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONANGC 3184 NGC 3310
NGC 3079