NGC 2683 — Galaxy in Lynx

NGC 2683 is a highly inclined spiral galaxy in Lynx, about 25 million light-years away, popularly known as the UFO Galaxy for its narrow elliptical profile and yellow-orange glow that resembles a flying saucer. It is not perfectly edge-on — the disk is tilted enough to show a hint of the inner spiral structure on photographs — but visually it presents as a classic edge-on. Its bright, dust-poor old population gives it a smooth, golden tone that contrasts with the bluer, dustier NGC 4631 and NGC 5907. At magnitude 9.8 with a 9-arcminute long disk, it is one of the brightest galaxies in Lynx.

A satisfying telescope object. A 4-inch at moderate power shows a clearly elongated bright streak with a small bright nucleus. An 8-inch at 150-200x reveals the lens-shaped profile and the gradient toward a sharp central condensation. A 12-inch begins to suggest mottling in the disk and a faint dust lane on the northwest edge. Star-hop from Sigma Cancri or use the line from Pollux through Iota Cancri continuing into Lynx. Best observed January through April.

Discovered by William Herschel on 5 February 1788. The 'UFO' nickname is a 20th-century amateur invention, though comparisons to a flying saucer were already used in observing reports a generation earlier.