NGC 4442, 4417 & 4424 -- Galaxies in Virgo
NGC 4442 and Neighbors
It had been a productive viewing session, but it was now past midnight and I had been
observing since sunset. The last galaxy on my observing list, for the night, was NGC 4442,
a bright Lenticular Galaxy, that I knew would not be difficult seeing. Although, this oval galaxy
showed little detail, it still was enjoyable to finish with something so easy on the eyes. The
night was transparent and two dimmer neighboring galaxies also showed in the one-degree
field-of-view of the eyepiece. As a finishing touch, I viewed each of the three galaxies using
a higher power (182x), but except for NGC 4442 which showed a slightly brighter core, no
additional details were noticed.
Three unimaginable distant galaxies, with their billions upon billions of stars each, all in the
eyepiece at the same time was not a bad way to end the night.
observing since sunset. The last galaxy on my observing list, for the night, was NGC 4442,
a bright Lenticular Galaxy, that I knew would not be difficult seeing. Although, this oval galaxy
showed little detail, it still was enjoyable to finish with something so easy on the eyes. The
night was transparent and two dimmer neighboring galaxies also showed in the one-degree
field-of-view of the eyepiece. As a finishing touch, I viewed each of the three galaxies using
a higher power (182x), but except for NGC 4442 which showed a slightly brighter core, no
additional details were noticed.
Three unimaginable distant galaxies, with their billions upon billions of stars each, all in the
eyepiece at the same time was not a bad way to end the night.