sharpshooting: caldwell 7
at magnitude 8.9, caldwell 7 (aka ngc 2403) is the brightest of the non-messier galaxies. in fact, most do a double-take on their first sighting, wondering how this beauty managed to evade chuck’s scrutiny. c7’s nickname ‘the island universe’ comes from its isolation among the realm of dim suns comprising the constellation camelopardalis.
but to draw an rdf bead on c7 we’ll start at the nose of the big bear asterism in ursa major. muscida (1 uma, mag 3.3) is the vertex of a slightly flattened triangle, with c7 and 23 uma (mag 3.7) forming the base. to more easily relate its position i’ve shown a july-ish, right-side up bear, but midnight culmination for c7 is actually in mid-january when our bear is almost upside-down (at which time the galaxy can also be found roughly 25° directly above polaris). the famous galactic pair m81/82 are its closest bright kin, so they’re a good jumping-off point to throw some glass and appreciation at the island universe as well.
happy hunting!
caldwell 7 forms a triangle with muscida and 23 uma
*photo courtesy of dss/chart courtesy of mobile obs*
stephen saber/saber does the stars/2019/all blog contents are free use and may be reprinted with author acknowledgement
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One Fist In The Stars 