101 Must-See Cosmic Objects: NGC 2403

The 18th-largest constellation, Camelopardalis, depicts a giraffe that stretches from the northern border of Perseus up to near Polaris. Its brightest star, designated Beta (β), is 4th magnitude. Camelopardalis is rich in galaxies, and the brightest is NGC 2403 at magnitude 8.9 — bright enough to see in large binoculars under dark skies.

Some 10 million light-years away, this Scd spiral lies in the outer regions of the M81 Group, the closest association of galaxies to the Local Grou