NGC 2403 : Walter Scott Houston called it ‘the brightest galaxy north of the celestial equator that does not have a Messier number’. That statement alone is a good reason to go after this galaxy with our small pair of binoculars. An easy starting point to star hop to NGC 2403 is Omicron Ursae Majoris. From there, hop to the 6th magnitude 51 Camelopardalis at about 7° to the northwest. The galaxy lies at 1° west of 51 Camelopardalis. Some observers report that this galaxy is easily mistaken for a comet. I on the other hand have a very different impression. When I first located NGC 2403, it did not remind me of a comet at all. NGC 2403 shows a fairly large and diffuse core, centered in a faint but obviously elongated halo. This appearance reminds me of my observation of NGC 2903 in Leo with a four inch scope. It’s definitely one of the more rewarding galaxies for binocular observers to look up!
The brightest star in the sketch is 51 Camelopardalis.

Site : Butgenbach, Belgium
Date : May 5, 2008
Time : around 21,30UT
Binoculars : Bresser 8x56
FOV: 5.9°
Filter : none
Mount : Trico Machine Sky Window
Seeing : 2,5/5
Transp. : 4/5
Nelm : 6.0
Sketch Orientation : N up, W right.
Digital sketch made with Photo Paint, based on a raw pencil sketch.

(Note: if the sketch does look too dark on your monitor, try to darken the room.)