Sky and Telescope - April 2018 - 56

APRIL 2018 OBSERVING
Deep-Sky Wonders
10h 32m

10h 28m
30

LEO MINOR

NGC 3160
NGC 3152

+33°

Star magnitudes

+34°

5
6
7
8
9
10

33

+32°

NGC 3158
PGC 2135428

+31°

MGC +7-21-19
NGC 3161
NGC 3150

+30°

NGC 3159

3254

NGC 3151

+29°

3265

ΟΣΣ 105

3277

3245

p The light from NGC 3158, the brightest member of this eponymous galaxy group, takes about
325 million years to reach Earth. William Herschel spotted NGC 3158 and NGC 3163 in 1787, but
the group's dimmer galaxies weren't dug from the deep until almost a century later.

At 117× its bright interior takes up a
relatively large part of the galaxy, which
spans about 1′. A very faint spot is also
visible in the ﬁeld. Boosting the magniﬁcation to 164× conﬁrms its identity as
NGC 3163 (magnitude 13.3), and I can
also glimpse NGC 3159 (13.6). These
smaller galaxies can be detected largely
due to their comparatively bright cores.
An extremely faint star hangs between
and south of the pair, and a 12th-magnitude star sits a few arcminutes west of
NGC 3159.
My 10-inch reﬂector at 213× exposes
several more galaxies. Closely ﬂanked
by roundish NGC 3163 and oval NGC
3159, NGC 3161 (13.5) is fairly faint
with uniform surface brightness. Its
56

A PR I L 2 018 * SK Y & TELESCOPE

bosom buddies hold brighter hearts,
and NGC 3159 lists northwest. The
12th-magnitude star west of NGC 3159
forms a short isosceles triangle with
two dim galaxies, NGC 3151 (13.8) to
the southwest and more elusive NGC
3150 (14.6) to the west-northwest.
North of NGC 3158, two stars 3.7′
apart bracket NGC 3160 (14.1), a slim
galaxy tilted northwest. Only 4.1′ due
west of NGC 3160, NGC 3152 (14.2) is
a very small, very faint glow.
The view in the 10-inch scope also
includes two non-NGC galaxies. At
ﬁrst I thought there were three, but the
easily visible, starlike object that I'd
taken for MCG +7-21-25's core turned
out to be a true star superimposed on

10h 34m

3245A

10h 30m

10h 26m

the core. On the other hand, tenuous
MCG +7-21-19 (15.0) is discernible, but
it's a very tough catch 1.6′ northwest
of NGC 3159. With a lower magnitude
but higher surface brightness, PGC
2135428 (15.3) seems to be a tiny spot
2.5′ west-southwest of NGC 3158 and
a scant 26″ north of a 13.6-magnitude
star. It's a great eye-teaser for those who
enjoy a real challenge.
The celestial lair where lions dwell,
its walls softly silvered with galaxies
and sparkling with tiny gems, is a ﬁne
place to spend a clear spring night. Give
it a try!
¢ Contributing Editor SUE FRENCH fears
no lions, celestial or otherwise.

JOHN DW YER

NGC 3163

Sky and Telescope - April 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sky and Telescope - April 2018

Contents
Sky and Telescope - April 2018 - Cover1
Sky and Telescope - April 2018 - Cover2
Sky and Telescope - April 2018 - 1
Sky and Telescope - April 2018 - Contents
Sky and Telescope - April 2018 - 3
Sky and Telescope - April 2018 - 4
Sky and Telescope - April 2018 - 5
Sky and Telescope - April 2018 - 6
Sky and Telescope - April 2018 - 7
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