The Pleiades is one of everyone's favorite winter sights.  You and I probably look up at that tiny pot of stellar jewels every winter night we head out, just as we have ever since we first became fascinated with the night sky. It’s a seasonal rite.

But did you know there was a small galaxy lurking behind the Pleiades?  Not many people do.  Its faint disk was never seen by the Herschels or known to John Dreyer when he assembled the New General Catalog and supplemental Index Catalogs.

Records show this little treasure was discovered in the 1950s, although it had been "photobombing" the Pleiades long before that. UGC 2838 was first cataloged in the UGC, the Uppsala General Catalog of Galaxies, in 1973. The specific individual credited with its discovery is not documented.

Observing UGC galaxies is great sport for deep-sky observers using very large telescopes.  Truth be told, however, most are so faint that the best we can hope for are very dim glimmers just barely perceptible with averted vision.  But this little galaxy is different because of its prominent location.  UGC 2838 appears just 16' west of Electra (17 Tauri).

UGC 2838, also cataloged as PGC 13696, is classified as an Sc-type spiral, tilted nearly edge-on from our perspective. It spans approximately 40,000 light-years in diameter and is situated at a distance of roughly 303 million light years from Earth. It features a classic spiral structure, though details remain elusive due to its faintness. Advanced imaging techniques reveal it as a relatively small galaxy when compared to iconic spirals like the Milky Way, yet it retains distinct arm structures typical of its classification.

UGC 2838's position is both a blessing and a curse.  It's a blessing in that we don't have to starhop to some far-off place in a starless field.  It's a curse for the very same reason.  Not only do the cluster stars dazzle our eyes when looking for the faint starlight from this distant spiral galaxy, the cosmic dust littering the cluster also dulls its appearance.

To find out, let's first locate UGC 2838's field by centering on Electra, the southwestern star in the Pleiades "bowl."  Viewing with your "other" eye (that is, the eye you will not be using to search for the galaxy, to maintain its full dilation), shift your gaze 7' westward from Electra to a crooked trapezoid of four stars that reminds me of Corvus the Crow.  Now, look for a 12th-magnitude star another 6' west of the "Crow's" southwestern corner.  That's your destination.  Switch to an eyepiece with a narrow enough field to move the trapezoid's brightest star out of view.  Offset the star to the southeast of center, and take a look. Can you spot a very faint, thin sliver of light? If so, you've captured UGC 2838.

Even with the galaxy's field isolated from the cluster's stars, the background sky is still brightened by the glow of the sisters' nebulosity.  Averted vision and lightly tapping the side of the telescope tube to impart motion should help to overcome that handicap, but only if the sky itself is dark and transparent.

My best view of UGC 2838 came through my 18-inch (45.7-cm) reflector using 7- and 10-mm eyepieces from a site with a naked-eye limiting magnitude was better than 6th.  The 7-mm eyepiece (294x, 13' field) proved the best, but only after I had spotted the galaxy initially with the 10-mm (206x, 15' field).  Trying a 5-mm eyepiece (411x, 10' field), however, dimmed the images so much that the galaxy faded completely from view.

Good luck with this month's Cosmic Challenge! And be sure to post your results in this column's discussion forum.

Until next month, remember that half of the fun is the thrill of the chase.  Game on!