Hi PGC,
Another great report -- in fact probably the best I've seen. Not because it's long, or you saw a lot but because of the passion and enthusiasm it contains.
I'm not going to go through and compare notes on much except the ESO 240-10, -11 & -13 group in Phoenix. The only reason I've picked on them is because my observations of this group indicate that it obviously made a big impression on me at the time I observed it.
My observations of the group were from Bargo on 19 August 2001 an average night there with a ZLM of about 6.3 and seeing 5/10. 31cm f/5.3 --
x186 26' TF. ESO 240-10, ESO 240-11 and ESO 240-13 all lie in the same field.
PGC 71943 (ESO 240-10) Mag 12.6b Size 4.0 x 1.8'. This triplet are easily the highlight of the night!! -11 is in a pair with -10 with mag 10 * midway between. The eg's are aligned with respect to each other in PA 0 and seperated by 15'. -10 is fairly bright and a nice object. It has higher S.B than -11 but is more compact. 2' x 40" in PA 135, most of the visible halo seems to be taken up by a large moderately brighter core which brightens further to centre without an actual pip.
PGC 71948 (ESO 240-11) Mag 13.2b Size 5.3' x 0.5'. This is a wonderful eg and if it were in the northern hemisphere would be a showpiece object for large telescopes and well publicised. Alas it is a virtual unknown. Wonderful and stunning object. In PA 135, like a minature version of NGC 4565, even with a hint of a dust lane underlining the core on the SW flank. Lowish but reasonable S.B Fully 4.5' x 15", it has pointy tips and is shaped like a javelin, the boundary of the halo on the SW flank is much better defined than it's counterpart suggestive of a dark lane. There is no noticable core the eg grows slightly toward the axis in the inner 2/3rds. The tips are quite sharp. Really really beautiful!!
PGC 72038 (ESO 240-13) Mag 14.0b Size 1.3' x 0.8'. This is found about 20' SE of the above pair as a contrast. A very small very LSB round blob about 40" diameter with no central brightening. Faint to very faint.
I must go back and take a peek at this group in the larger aperture -- thanks for reminding me of it!
Yep, Mirror needs a tub!
Best,
Les D