Mighty Pegasus looms giant on late September and October nights, being rightly well-known for its ‘Nice Sq.’ that straddles the southern meridian at round midnight BST in late September. NGC 7479 (Caldwell 44), popularly named the ‘Propeller Galaxy’, is straightforward to find, positioned simply 3° south of Markab (alpha Pegasi), the star on the south-west (lower-right) nook of the Sq.. In late September from London, NGC 7479 transits the southern meridian (culminates) some 50° excessive at about 11.45pm BST. Sadly, it’s out of attain of 10 x 50 binoculars.
NGC 7479 is magnitude +11 object that spans 4.1’ x 3.2’ to its fullest extent and seems with a face-on orientation to our line-of-sight. It’s a difficult galaxy to watch by a small telescope, although a vibrant core must be seen by an 80mm (~3-inch) telescope, whereas a 100-150mm (4- to 6-inch) ‘scope present its pronounced bar surrounded by a 3’ x 2’ halo oriented north to south.
On a clear and regular evening some refined mottling may be eked out, although you’ll want an aperture within the 300mm (12-inch) class to catch a glimpse of the central bar.
Imagers generally produce excellent photos exhibiting two main spiral arms sprouting from a north–south oriented bar; one extends north-eastwards and the opposite south-westwards and ultimately they curve round to the south and north of the bar, respectively.
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