NGC 7462

In the southern constellation of Grus there are a large number of galaxies around magnitude 11 and 12. Many of these are easy objects for an 8" telescope. Four of them are shown in this photograph. To the lower right is the brightest. This is the 11.0 magnitude NGC 7424. This is a face-on spiral. In an 8" telescope it appears as a faint, circular patch of light with a bright centre.

Directly to the left of NGC 7424, near the left hand edge of the photograph and partly obscured by a star, is the 12th magnitude galaxy NGC 7462. This is a small, but bright edge-on galaxy that appears as a thin streak in an 8" telescope. Some distance above NGC 7462, just above a pair of bright bule stars, is another edge-on spiral, the 12th magnitude NGC 7456. As with NGC 7462, NGC 7456 is easily visible in an 8" telescope as a thin streak. Near the upper right corner is the easiest galaxy of these four to observe. This is the 11th magnitue NGC 7401. This is yet another edge-on spiral, however it appears somewhat thicker than the other two as it is tilted slightly more and is brighter.