Hickson 42 in Hydra lies about 6 degrees west of
the bright planetary NGC 3242 ("Ghost of Jupiter"). The galaxy group is
dominated by the 11th magnitude elliptical, NGC 3091, that contains a
compact luminous core and is visible in 6" scopes. See if you can spot a
14 magnitude "star" close off the northwest edge. This object is the
compact galaxy 42c and on deep exposures appears embedded in the halo of
NGC 3091. A third member, NGC 3096 (42b), is a faint 14th magnitude glow
about 5' southeast of NGC 3091. - Steve Gottlieb
