NGC 3607, NGC 3608 & NGC 3626 -- Galaxies in Leo
An Unexpected Caldwell Object
The Leo Cloud of Galaxies includes around 120 gravitationally-bound members.
Three of the brighter members (NGC 3607, 3608 and 3626) fit nicely in the same
eyepiece, using the 110mm refractor. All three of these galaxies fail to show any
detail in the small refractor, even at higher power, just three soft compact glows,
each made up of trillions of stars, at a distance of 70+ million light years.
Sir Patrick Moore choose NGC 3626 as his Caldwell Object 40. I have never
heard a good reason why NGC 3626 made the cut for his famous observing list.
No other object in the constellation Leo made the Caldwell list. There are many
brighter (non-Messier) galaxies in Leo, that he could have picked, included the
other two shown in the drawing. I am sure he had his reasons, but as far as I know
he never communicated his rational to anyone.