The Caldwell Objects

northeast of the sixth star in the chain (the
magnitude-6.3 star mentioned above) and about
½° south of the ecliptic. (Note that M104, the
Sombrero Galaxy, is about 3½° due east of the
second star in this chain.) Some star charts show
several other galaxies near NGC 4697, but there is
no mistaking any of them for Caldwell 52
because our target outshines even the brightest of
these neighboring systems by nearly two
magnitudes.
To see NGC 4697 with the Genesis at 23x I
simply aim my Qwik Point sighting device at the
aforementioned 6.3-magnitude star and voilá, the
galaxy is immediately apparent. It sits inside the
arms of a wide Y-shaped aster-ism of roughly
9th- to 11th-magnitude suns (with the open end
of the Y oriented to the northeast), looking like a
fuzzy olive suspended within a martini glass.
Structure is visible at a glance in NGC 4697; a
dense yet fuzzy core of light is surrounded by a
fainter circular glow. A prolonged look brings
out the galaxy's slightly oval shape, which is
elongated along a northeast-southwest axis.
52
The view at 72x is much more complex. The
galaxy's core stands out prominently. Here is that
concentration of ancient starlight, surrounded by
a swarm of unseen globular clusters. At this
magnification we can start to appreciate the
system's physical nature. This amorphous sphere
of starlight is an impressive 150,000 light-years in
diameter and shines with a total luminosity of 70
billion Suns. The galaxy is inclined 44° from face
on and is whisking away from us at about 1,200
km per second.
Field stars of diminishing brightness bracket
NGC 4697. A roughly 12th-magnitude star
partners it to the east, while a much fainter sun,
perhaps magnitude 14.5, glows like a dim knot
equidistant to the southwest. A roughly 13thmagnitude
star borders the galaxy to the northnorthwest,
with an equally dim sun farther out.
Photographs show numerous fainter stars across
the face of the galaxy — lending credence to
Herschel's illusion of "resolution." Sometimes a
"star" or mottled bit of light can be seen in the
galaxy's northern sector. At times the galaxy's
major axis appears more distinct than its minor
axis. Is this an illusion, created, perhaps, by an
alignment of foreground
The Caldwell Objects 209