NGC 185

NGC 185 (also known as Caldwell 18) is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy located 2.08 million light-years from Earth, appearing in the constellation Cassiopeia. It is a member of the Local Group, and is a satellite of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). Unlike most dwarf elliptical galaxies, NGC 185 contains young stellar clusters, and star formation proceeded at a low rate until the recent past. NGC 185 if a faint galaxy, yet may be seen visually as a dim smudge in 6 inch or larger telescopes.   A distinctive dust patch near the core may also be seen, although is often overwhelmed by the general glow of the galaxy in long exposures. A nice irregular background galaxy (UGC 378) can be seen to the upper right of NGC 185. This was the first galaxy I have imaged in quite some time, and a lot of exposure time was needed to pull this galaxy out of some not very dark skies so early in the fall.