NGC 2903

[DarkerSky]

Clear dark sky prevailed over those pesky clouds last night, so before moonrise I took to the deep sky of Leo. NGC 2903 is really a quite spectacular galaxy. I have no idea how Charles Messier missed it!

In my 16" at x107 I could make out a relatively obvious elongated oval shaped patch of light with a distinct central brightening. A fainter halo could be seen extending away around it. The central core seemed aligned at an angle to the oval shaped area of the galaxy to make it look sort of twisted. Also, a brighter notch was made out within the oval area to the north of the core.

From research afterwards I'm now led to believe that the brighter notch has its own designation of NGC 2905 !! Is that bizarre or what..!!??

Here is the sketch

16" Mag x107

[mdstuart]

Very detailed, great drawing.

Mark