DEEP SKY CHALLENGE
THE ‘REALM OF THE GALAXIES’
Evenings reveal a gaggle of must-see structures when we look out into deep space in the direction of one of the most well-known constellations
3 Markarian’s Chain
The region of sky around Leo, Coma Berenices and Virgo is known as the ‘Realm of the Galaxies’, and this is a perfect time of year to go hunting for those faint, fuzzy and very distant objects. Galaxies come in all shapes, sizes and distances; this means they can seem larger and brighter, or smaller and fainter, depending on their individual attributes. They can also come in groups. This can be a line-of-sight effect or it can be the result of gravitational interactions between individual galaxies. Some larger, brighter galaxies can be spotted in binoculars, but most require at least a small telescope – the larger the aperture, the more you’ll see and the brighter objects will appear. Here are just a few of the most interesting objects for the deep-sky observer.