[Paddy (Patrick)]

I've been wanting to properly explore Abell cluster 3574 near Messier 83 for quite some time but the transparency has been abysmal for any but the brightest galaxies. Last Friday was my chance.

The sky got more moist as the night went on so after the Abell cluster, I headed to Ophiuchus for some GCs. Did find HP 1, but Ton 2 in Scorpius eluded me.

Thanks for reading.

Telescope 400mm f4.9 tri-dob reflector
Eyepieces 28mm UWAN, 17 Ethos ,13,9 mm Naglers, Paracorr
Navigation: Uranometria

p= preceding
f= following

2100 Seeing good, transparency good

Abell 3574 Galaxy cluster in Hydra

NGC 5292 GX Hydra

175x 2’x1.5’ N-S oval glow with distinct central brightness and a foreground star at the northern edge of the disc.

NGC 5302,5298, M5-33-10 ESO 445-44 & ESO 445-46 GX in Hydra

175x These three form a slightly flattened triangle of faint round luminosities 15’ to the N and slightly preceding of the following pair of a 2 foreground stars separated by 10’ . The southernmost and brightest is NGC 5302, a 2’ glow with perhaps a faint stellar central brightness. NGC 5298 is also about 2’ across and forms the apex of the triangle and I have the impression of a faint galaxy just to its Np, M-5-33-10 being fainter again but about the same size. 2/3 of the way from NGC 5302 to the preceding star of the aforementioned pair is the small, faint glow of ESO 445-44. 5’ Sf to the other star is the 2’x1’ faint glow of ESO 445-46

NGC 5291 & M 5-33-5 GX in Hydra

175x A line from NGC 5302 through M 35-33-10 and extended for 16’ leads to the small 1’ round glow of NGC 5291 with bright centre and 1’ S of it is the faint 1’ glow of M 5-33-5 ( the seashell galaxy, but not visually anyway!)

IC 4329, 4329A & 4327 GX in Hydra

175x 15’ Nf of NGC 5298 is the distinct soft 3’x1.5’ glow of IC 4329 with an obvious 30” brightness at its centre. 4’ f is the smaller but still distinct IC 4329A also with marked central brightness. 4’ p 4329 is the very faint glow of IC 4327

Also visible are the small glow of M 5-33-23 28’ f IC 4329 and 20’ to the N of this ESO 445-54. Larger but also very faint is IC 4328, 20’ to the N of IC 4327, no central brightness observed.

Other faint galaxies were just visible in the field, but I was unable to identify or describe them.

Messier 62 NGC 6266 GC in Ophiuchus

175x Spectacular 12’x7’ GC with countless resolved stars and a distinct core. The halo looks more extended and scattered to the N with a big spray of stars out to the Np

NGC 6293 GC in Ophiuchus

175x much more modest than nearby M 62, this is still a very pleasing 5’ dia GC, quite concentrated and with many resolved stars .

Messier 19/NGC 6273 GC in Ophiuchus

175x A very intriguing GC – a round 3’dia central concentration within a flattened 7’x5’ halo, elongated N-S. A plethora of resolved stars makes this a stunning sight.

NGC 6248 GC in Ophiuchus

175x 3’ dia, round grainy and compact GC with no marked central brightness.

Haute Provence 1 (HP1) GC in Ophiuchus

175x Very faint circular glow just visible, perhaps 1.5-2’ dia, but hard to pick the edges.