Most galaxies are clumped together in groups or clusters. A neighbouring galaxy is never far away. But this galaxy, known as NGC 6503, has found itself in a lonely position, at the edge of a strangely empty patch of space called the Local Void.
Well-known astronomer and writer Stephen James O’Meara has taken James Dunlop’s 19th century opus as the basis for his survey of 120 southern sky objects for the modern astronomer.