NGC 55 is another big and impressive galaxy in Sculptor with some details to reveal. This nearly edge on barred spiral is only 6.5 million light years away, likely sitting between the Local group and the Sculptor group. NGC 55 is 30 x 3 arc minutes and 7.8 magnitude, so it is similar in size and brightness to NGC 253. The edge to this galaxy appears sharply cut on the top and bottom, and is significantly brighter on the eastern half (left in the sketch). There are three brighter patches visible that each look less like mottling or star clouds and more like three distinct cores, although none are in the center. Quite interesting and unusual.
These galaxies are very similar in size and brightness, and yet one is far more well known. NGC 253 culminates at 31 degrees for me, and spends about an hour and a half above 30 degrees which I usually consider the boundary line for decent observing. NGC 55 on the other hand culminates at 18 degrees and never even comes close to the 30 degree boundary. I guess that’s why NGC 253 get’s all the press. I can increase the magnification on NGC 253 until it fills the field of view, whereas NGC 55 is dimmer and in the soup of atmospheric seeing, so I have to keep the magnification low. I can only imagine what NGC 55 would look like from Southern skies, riding high!
Here are my sketches of these two galaxies done at the eyepiece on black paper with white Conte pencil for stars and white pastel applied by brush for the galaxy. Stars are highlighted and some additional stars added afterwards with white gel pen.
Thanks for looking!
NGC 253
150x magnification
14” Dobstuff ETT coma corrected to f/5.5
APM XWA 13 mm
9/16/23, Mt Pinos, CA
NGC 55
100x magnification
14” Dobstuff ETT coma corrected to f/5.5
Stellarvue Optimus 20mm
11/10/23, Amboy Crater, CA
Edited by Nightowl99, 18 March 2024 - 12:36 AM.
