NGC 5044 & 5054 -- Galaxies in Virgo
The NGC 5044 Galaxy Group -- Only in my Imagination
An impressive tight grouping of galaxies swarms the area around NGC 5044 and NGC 5054.
From my suburban backyard with the 155mm refractor only the two mentioned galaxies could
be seen visually. The rest would require larger optics and darker skies. NGC 5044 and NGC
5054 are approximately half-a-degree from each other. I drew them separately because I
could not see either of the galaxies at a low enough power to get both in the same eyepiece
view. The Spiral Galaxy 5054 was larger where it showed a slight brightening towards the
center and some possible mottling in the disk. The Elliptical Galaxy NGC 5044 was as difficult
to see as the Spiral Galaxy, but much smaller and was a uniformly soft round glow in the
eyepiece. Invisible to me, was the grouping of multiple dimmer galaxies in the area that has
been assigned to NGC 5044.
From my suburban backyard with the 155mm refractor only the two mentioned galaxies could
be seen visually. The rest would require larger optics and darker skies. NGC 5044 and NGC
5054 are approximately half-a-degree from each other. I drew them separately because I
could not see either of the galaxies at a low enough power to get both in the same eyepiece
view. The Spiral Galaxy 5054 was larger where it showed a slight brightening towards the
center and some possible mottling in the disk. The Elliptical Galaxy NGC 5044 was as difficult
to see as the Spiral Galaxy, but much smaller and was a uniformly soft round glow in the
eyepiece. Invisible to me, was the grouping of multiple dimmer galaxies in the area that has
been assigned to NGC 5044.