Usually, my observing sessions are structured around a specific program; Hickson galaxy clusters, Abell planetaries and the like. But sometimes I'll pick a patch of sky, open [i]Uranometria[/i] to the corresponding chart and scan for anything that catches my eye. This more spontaneous approach led me to track down the trio of galaxies pictured in the sketch at left, which captures a 199X view in the big Obsession.

Located in southern Pisces, NGC 7530, NGC 7532 and NGC 7534 are nestled among a slew of galaxies in this corner of the celestial tapestry. The brightest nearby star is 7.1 magnitude HD 219200, which shines near the northern edge of the field in my sketch. NGC 7532 is centered. This peculiar-type galaxy has a blue magnitude of about 14.3, which suggests a visual magnitude of 13.5 or thereabouts. Its 40" diameter form is punctuated by a stellar core region. A 10.7 magnitude star simmers 2' to the south.

Twice that distance to the southwest, the delicate foggy glow of NGC 7530 emerges from the night. This transitional galaxy is similar in size to NGC 7532 but obviously fainter. Photometric data available from NED indicates a blue magnitude of about 14.8. Looking 2' northeast from NGC 7532, the delicate circular form of NGC 7534 can be seen. This 14.7(B) magnitude irregular galaxy competes with the soft glow of a nearby 14th magnitude GSC star. The star lies 28" to the south of NGC 7534. This trio of stellar citadels resides about 175 million light-years from Earth. Of course, every one of the 19 stars peppering my drawing reside within the Milky Way.