| Description | William Herschel discovered this galaxy in 1784 while he was exploring the Pegasus constellation. He cataloged it as a bright, large, and well-defined spiral, noting its central brightness and structure. This is a personal favorite target, both because of the clearly evident sructure and its five small NGC companion galaxies (see gallery image annotated in SharpCap). Despite a 93% moon, I felt it was clear enough to give it a good shot. So it was. You can find an earlier OSC capture in the "related links" section. But I think this is a clearer representation of the galaxy, and the one to include in my AL Caldwell submission. |
