Treasures in Little Observed Areas
By Shawn Grant
In Eastern Virgo near the borders of Serpens Caput and Libra is an obscure and little observed area except for the passing glance at M5. If you go deeper you will find many interesting galaxies. There are several galaxies all within a small 2 degrees area. Point your telescope to the 4.4 magnitude star 110 Virgo. It is an orange star in the extreme eastern end of Virgo by Serpens Caput and Libra. The star appears faint but it is 46 times more luminous then our own Sun. The star is 183 light years away. With your wide field eyepiece become familiar with the star and the surrounding area. You will use this star a lot for navigation.
The first galaxy is NGC 5838 just 37 minutes east of the star 110. It is 11.8 magnitude and a size of 3.5’ X 1’ and a hubble class of Sa. It is fairly bright, elongated northeast to southwest. It has a brighter stellar nucleus. You may notice an 8th magnitude star SAO 120829 4’ to the south. The star and the galaxy makes for a beautiful view.
17 minutes to the east you will find a challenge. If you apply careful observing techniques and have access to a large telescope you should be able to see this galaxy. The galaxy is NGC 5848 at a magnitude of 14.5. It is very faint small and extended. If you look towards the northeast you will see an 8th magnitude star SAO 120845. A little farther you will see a 12.6 magnitude galaxy NGC 5854. It is an S0 galaxy with a size of 2.2 minutes. It is fairly bright small and a little extended. You will also notice a little brighter core. A 15th magnitude supernova 1980P was found in this galaxy. A half a degree northeast is yet another galaxy, NGC 5864. It is magnitude 12.5, 2.4’ in size and a hubble class of SB0. It is Faint, small, little irregular in shape and a tad extended. It gradually brightens towards the center.
Move back to our famed guide star, the 4.4 magnitude 110. Look 46 minutes to the southeast to the S0 galaxy NGC 5839. It is very faint at magnitude 13.6 and a size of 1.2’ X1’. It is a faint glow around a faint stellar nucleus. Be sure to be at a dark location and fully dark adapted to see this one.
9 minutes to the east you will find another faint galaxy NGC 5845. It is an elliptical galaxy with a size of .6 minutes. It is small and a halo is visible around a faint core. While straining to see this faint galaxy you can’t help but notice NGC 5846 7 minutes to the east. It is an 11.1 elliptical galaxy with a size of 3’ X 3’. It is bright, large, and round with a much brighter middle. If you look hard you may notice its companion NGC 5846A. It is 13.8 magnitude and looks stellar. It will take a keen eye to spot this.
NGC 5850, 7 minutes farther to the east makes abeautiful pair with NGC 5846. It is an 11.7 
magnitude barred spiral galaxy with a size of 5’ X 4’. It appears fainter then the said magnitude because of the low surface brightness. It is a little extended and brightens suddenly in the center. On the Palomar Sky Survey the galaxy looks like that prototype Tie Fighter that Darth Vader was flying in the original Star Wars. In 1987 a 15th magnitude supernova 1987b was found in this galaxy.
A little less then a degree south of the star 110 you will find the galaxy NGC 5831. It is an elliptical galaxy with a magnitude of 12.4. It is bright, small and has a much brighter middle.
NGC 5813 is 33 minutes to the southwest of the star 110. It is an 11.4 magnitude elliptical with a size of 3.4’ X 2’. It is bright, round with a much brighter middle.
19 minutes to the west you come to the last galaxy on our tour, NGC 5806. It is a faint 12.3 magnitude barred spiral galaxy with a size of 3’ X 1.5’. It is large, extended with a brighter middle. This is a little out of the way area from the Virgo Cluster. This area is little observed except for M5 just 4 degrees to the east. There are no bright stars in fact it is a star poor area all together.
Sometimes it is fun to explore these little known areas to see what there is. Who knows what you will find, beautiful star clusters, nebula or in this case fairly bright and interesting galaxies. The next time you are out observing look at your charts and find a void area and explore it.
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