Australian Sky & Telescope - April 2016__

56 AUSTRALIAN SKY & TELESCOPE APRIL 2016

listtoincludenineobjects.Mybestviewofthehidden

galaxies came over a few nights in January 201 5 when

I explored the area from my backyard observatory.

NGC2 64 7istheeasternmostgalaxyinsidethe

boundariesofthebrightcluster.Atabout7 2 0million

light-years from Earth, the galaxy is more than a

milliontimesmoredistantthantheclusteritself.At

firstglance,itappearsasasmall,concentratedspot,

butwithalittleeffortonthepartoftheobserver,it

reveals itself as a roundish halo with a brighter core.

Thegalaxyisonlyabitelongatedalongitsnortheast-

southwest axis. You might expect dense star fields

within a rich open cluster such as the Beehive, but

at high powers, the field of view isn’t at all crowded.

NGC2 64 7’simmediatestellarneighboursare12th

and13thmagnitudeandoffernorealimpedimentto

thedetectionofthegalaxy.Itsitsjustnorthofapair

of 12th-magnitude stars and about 1 ′northwest of a

13.4-magnitudestar.Iused3 00 ×and 390 ×through

my75-cmf/4.5Dobtoobservethiselliptical,but

detected it previously through smaller apertures

without much difficulty.

Moving about 1 2. 5 ′west-northwest brings NGC

2643 into view. This galaxy suffers from a bit of an

identity crisis, with many sources equating it with IC

239 0 and others questioning this identification. Albert

Marth discovered the galaxy in 186 4, and he apparently

recorded an 11 ′errorinitsposition.IC2 39 0,which

is almost certainly the same object, was discovered

independentlybyE.E.Barnard.Marthdiscovered

NGC2 63 7onthesamenightasNGC2 6 43.He

Becauseofitssize(at95arcminutes,it’saboutthreetimes

as broad as the full Moon), M44 is considered an ideal

target for small telescopes and binoculars. But if you pump

up the aperture and magnification, not to mention your

determination and patience, you’ll find a host of galaxies

hiding between the cool blues and warm yellows of the

cluster’s stars.

NGC 2624

NGC 2647

NGC 2643

NGC 2637

IC 2388

PGC 24335

PGC 24284

NGC 2625

MCG +3-22-21

BOB FRANKE

Going Deep