NGC 2403 how bright?

[WaveSoarer]

I've been doing some galaxy observing in Leo and Virgo and on the night of the 5th April I had a look for NGC 2903, also in Leo, as I waited for Virgo to clear a large tree in my garden. I went looking for NGC 2903 as it was noted as a mag 8.90 galaxy in Stellarium and should have comparable brightness to the Messier galaxies I've been viewing and imaging. Sure enough, it appeared relatively bright in my 32 mm EP and we ended up with a really lovely image once we'd fitted the DSLR. Last night (6th April) I went looking for NGC 2403 as it was indicated as being a mag 8.40 galaxy. It's a tricky star hop, not helped by the galaxy being almost vertical and difficult to maneuver on to (I almost had to bend backwards). Anyway, I couldn't see anything obvious and I'm reasonably sure I was in the right place (and the 32 mm EP has a reasonable field of view). I could easily see M81 and M82, which are nearby and also in Ursa Major, in my binoculars so I assume that either I was looking in the wrong place or I was placing too much faith on the magnitude indicated in Stellarium. Has anyone else gone looking for this galaxy and should it be observable? I later viewed and imaged the galaxy M99 and the globular cluster M53 so it was a good night in the end.

[Double Kick Drum]

NGC 2403 in Camelopardalis has quite a low surface brightness and needs a dark sky to be seen well. I have only ever picked up a large dull hazy patch myself. The mag. 8.4 is a bit misleading.

NGC 2903 in Leo is a nice galaxy and could have easily been included on the Messier list.

[WaveSoarer]

Thanks Martin. I was expecting this to be the case. I was buoyed up by my experience with NGC 2903 and I thought that NGC 2403 would be worth trying. It is surprising that it isn't in the Messier list but it is a very big sky indeed.

thanks again

Dave

[cotterless45]

Same for NGC4236 nearby spiral galaxy in Draco which is equally as large as NGC2403, very dim due to low surface brightness.

Easier are NGC5866, NGC5907 and NGC6503 in Draco,

Nick.

[WaveSoarer]

Thanks Nick. I'll look out for these.

[mdstuart]

Try NGC 2841 in Ursa Major. An awesome non messier galaxy..

2403 is fine in dark skies. I can see it in my 80mm bins but it is a low surface brightness as others have said. Good article on it in the March sky and telescope magazine.

Mark

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[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

+1 for NGC 2841. NGC 2903 in Leo is also awesome.

NGC 2403 and NGC 4236 are two of the trickier Caldwells. I found the former quite easily under a very dark sky, but the latter eluded me several session, until I finally spotted a very large, very elongated patch of fuzz. Surface brightness is a much better indicator of ease than (integrated) visual magnitude, which basically states how bright something would appear if you concentrated all the light it emits into a single point.

[WaveSoarer]

Thanks Mark and Michael. Much appreciated.