I have added twelve sketches to my Galaxy Groups & Clusters page, beginning with Additional Galaxy Group #1 (AKA IC5370 group). This is a small, irregular chain of five galaxies, all of which were only visible with averted vision.
![GG&C Additional #1 – Copyright (c) 2015 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.](https://www.thenightskynaturalist.com/wp-content/themes/grey-opaque/plugins/lazy-load/images/1x1.trans.gif)
GG&C Additional #1 – Copyright (c) 2015 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
Next is Hickson 99, a fairly tight grouping of five galaxies of which I was able to see three. The B component (U12899) was visible with direct vision, while the A component only showed as a dim, very elongated north/south streak with a dim field star near the southern tip.
![GG&C Hickson #99 – Copyright (c) 2015 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.](https://www.thenightskynaturalist.com/wp-content/themes/grey-opaque/plugins/lazy-load/images/1x1.trans.gif)
GG&C Hickson #99 – Copyright (c) 2015 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
Hickson 100 showed me two of its four components. The brightest member, visible with direct vision, is NGC 7803, which has a large, elongated halo running east/west. It becomes brighter toward the center and has a dim stellar nucleus.
![GG&C Hickson #100 – Copyright (c) 2015 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.](https://www.thenightskynaturalist.com/wp-content/themes/grey-opaque/plugins/lazy-load/images/1x1.trans.gif)
GG&C Hickson #100 – Copyright (c) 2015 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
Additional Galaxy Group #2 (the NGC 3 group) consists of five galaxies in a scattered grouping, all of which are averted vision objects. NGC 3 is the brightest member. It is elongated east/west, becomes brighter toward the center, and has a dim stellar nucleus.
![GG&C Additional #2 – Copyright (c) 2015 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.](https://www.thenightskynaturalist.com/wp-content/themes/grey-opaque/plugins/lazy-load/images/1x1.trans.gif)
GG&C Additional #2 – Copyright (c) 2015 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
Additional Galaxy Group #3 is a fairly tight but uneven group of ten galaxies of which I managed to view eight. It consists of a couple of brighter galaxies and several dimmer ones, all visible only with averted vision.
![GG&C Additional #3 – Copyright (c) 2015 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.](https://www.thenightskynaturalist.com/wp-content/themes/grey-opaque/plugins/lazy-load/images/1x1.trans.gif)
GG&C Additional #3 – Copyright (c) 2015 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
I viewed the Trio #13 (NGC 2379 Trio) earlier this year and it turned out to be a bit more difficult than I had anticipated. NGC 2379 (small and concentrated) was easy enough as a direct vision object, but the two other galaxies in this string, NGC 2375 and NGC 2373, were very hazy and diffuse spots. All three seemed dimmer than the listed magnitudes.
![GG&C Trio 13 – Copyright (c) 2015 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.](https://www.thenightskynaturalist.com/wp-content/themes/grey-opaque/plugins/lazy-load/images/1x1.trans.gif)
GG&C Trio 13 – Copyright (c) 2015 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
Abell #14 (569) is a rather large and loose cluster. I observed the “center” of this cluster, which is a crooked string of one or two brighter galaxies and several dimmer ones. The two brightest galaxies are NGC 2329 (which has an elongated halo running north-northeast/south-southwest with a brighter core and a dim stellar nucleus) and UGC 3696 (which is smaller but also has an elongated halo running northeast/southwest).
![GG&C Abell #14 (569) – Copyright (c) 2015 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.](https://www.thenightskynaturalist.com/wp-content/themes/grey-opaque/plugins/lazy-load/images/1x1.trans.gif)
GG&C Abell #14 (569) – Copyright (c) 2015 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
I was able to observe seven out of the nine galaxies in Additional Group #12 (NGC 2340 group), a “U” shaped string of galaxies with one bright NGC galaxy (NGC 2340) and six dimmer IC galaxies. NGC 2340 is fairly large and bright with an elliptical halo, a bright elongated core, and a dim stellar nucleus.
![GG&C Additional #12 – Copyright (c) 2015 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.](https://www.thenightskynaturalist.com/wp-content/themes/grey-opaque/plugins/lazy-load/images/1x1.trans.gif)
GG&C Additional #12 – Copyright (c) 2015 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
I could only spot a handful of galaxies in the Abell #15 (576) Cluster. They are just a scattering of five very dim galaxies visible only with extreme averted vision. I am also unsure of the designations for a couple of them.
![GG&C Abell #15 (576) – Copyright (c) 2015 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.](https://www.thenightskynaturalist.com/wp-content/themes/grey-opaque/plugins/lazy-load/images/1x1.trans.gif)
GG&C Abell #15 (576) – Copyright (c) 2015 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
Abell #22 (1185) is a large cluster of 82 or more galaxies with a clump of brighter galaxies toward the middle. Its distance is listed as around 433 million lightyears. The only direct vision galaxy is NGC 3550. It is a large, roundish cloud with no nucleus and fairly even in brightness. NGC 3561 and NGC 3561A together are part of Arp 105 (The Guitar). I could not see any other detail of The Guitar. Nor could I see another feature called Ambartsumian’s knot (a small tidal dwarf galaxy at the base of The Guitar). (See Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) for 22 November 2005.)
![GG&C Abell #22 (1185) – Copyright (c) 2015 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.](https://www.thenightskynaturalist.com/wp-content/themes/grey-opaque/plugins/lazy-load/images/1x1.trans.gif)
GG&C Abell #22 (1185) – Copyright (c) 2015 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
I viewed three of the Hickson 84 galaxies, a very dim and compact group.
![GG&C Hickson #84 – Copyright (c) 2015 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.](https://www.thenightskynaturalist.com/wp-content/themes/grey-opaque/plugins/lazy-load/images/1x1.trans.gif)
GG&C Hickson #84 – Copyright (c) 2015 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
Abell #38 (2151) (AKA the Hercules Cluster of Galaxies) is a bit overwhelming due to the shear number of galaxies (87 listed). I concentrated on the center, a long rectangular group of fairly dim galaxies. Although these are the brighter galaxies for the most part, they are still at least an AV3 (object seen more than 50% of the time) or dimmer. I will have to revisit this cluster in the future and try to pick off some more faint fuzzies.
![GG&C Abell #38 (2151) – Copyright (c) 2015 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.](https://www.thenightskynaturalist.com/wp-content/themes/grey-opaque/plugins/lazy-load/images/1x1.trans.gif)
GG&C Abell #38 (2151) – Copyright (c) 2015 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.