On the weekend of 15/6/2012 it should be possible to see all of the 150 Dunlop objects in one night.
Maybe we could have a Dunlop Marathon. (new moon is 19/6/12)
The objects nearest the Sun on that date are NGC 2090 and NGC 2298.
There are some great Dunlop objects visible in October, 14 of them transit at about 10pm (11pm DST). The best one is the globular 47 Tuc (NGC 104).
Three SMC objects NGCs 261, 330 and 346 (a magnificent nebula) and 10 galaxies also transit at about 10 pm.
The best of these galaxies are NGC 55 and the Grus quartet NGCs 7552,82,90,99. NGCs 300 and 7793 are also impressive. https://picasaweb.google.com/1100488...52146/Dunlop28
What a great list. All over IceInSpace and in my earlier studies of great objects to seek out down in the south skies James Dunlop comes up time and again.
This list is a real keeper and organized so well with NGC and Dunlop designations along with the other colums that are very helpful for planning any observations.
Nine Dunlop objects transit at about 10pm in November (11pm DST).
The globular NGC 362 on the north side of the SMC and three SMC nebulae NGCs 371, 456 and 602 are visible.
Five galaxies are also well placed IC 1633 and NGCs 613, 625, 986 and 1097.
Wikisky images of these 9 objects and Dunlop's descriptions start here: https://picasaweb.google.com/1100488...28511350388834
IC 1633 is here https://picasaweb.google.com/1100488...58806496955442
William Herschel found NGCs 613 and 1097, Dunlop found the other 7 DSO in 1826.
To help with my observing I have entered Glen's Dunlop 150 list into SkySafari as an observing list, I only had problems finding 4 objects in Sky Safari.
Markarian 18:
A quick Google indicates this is also known as Collinder 205. A check back to Glen's paper confirms this.
Harvard 6:
Again a Google indicates this is Collinder 261, I was unable to verify this further but I left it in the list as Cr261
Norma star cloud:
There was nothing in the SkySafari catalogs I could use for this.
Bernes 157:
I could find no other designation for this one to use.
Thank's Glen for the list, now I just need the clouds to go away.
Thanks Michael.
The middle of the Norma star cloud (16h20m -53d15m) is about 1.5 degrees NE of NGC 6067 and the cloud is 4 degrees long.
The middle of Bernes 157 (19h4m -37d5m) is nearly 1 degree SE of the globular NGC 6723 and the dark nebula is 1 degree long.
Dunlop's 1826 telescope was 9" (23 cm) in aperture and 9' (2.7 m) in focal length.
His two speculum mirrors reflected about 65% of the light each or 42% if you count the reflections at the primary and the secondary. Today's aluminium mirrors reflect about 93% of the light or 86% if you count the reflections at the primary and the secondary. This means his 9" was about equal to a 6.3" Newtonian with two aluminium mirrors. He had to climb a ladder to discover objects high in the sky, and use a candle to write notes and to read the clock and the south polar distance (declination) 185 years ago at his house in Hunter St. Parramatta NSW. The attached Google Earth image shows the location of his house and the backyard observatory where he made catalogues of clusters, nebulae and double stars.
The church 50m east of Dunlop's house is St Johns. http://english.stjohnscathedral.org....-/our-heritage
Twenty-six of the "150 Dunlop Deep Sky Objects" transit at about 10pm in December (11pm DST) - one globular cluster, four nebulae and 21 galaxies.
The Globular is NGC 1261 in Hor. The nebulae are NGCs 1722, 1743, 1763 and 1770 in the LMC.
The 5 brightest galaxies are NGCs 1269, 1313, 1316, 1365, 1553 and 1566.
Wikisky images and Dunlop's descriptions of the 26 Dunlop DSO start here: https://picasaweb.google.com/1100488...28570659595186
Eighteen of the "150 Dunlop Deep Sky Objects" transit at about 10pm in January (11pm DST) - 3 open cluster, 3 globular cluster, 8 nebulae and 4 galaxies.
Twelve of the 18 objects are in the LMC, the best one being NGC 2070. It is interesting to sweep the LMC with and without a UHC filter.
The remaining objects are the globulars NGCs 1851 and 2298 and the galaxies NGCs 1792, 1808, 1947 and 2090.
I often look at NGC 1851 and the nearby galaxy pair NGCs 1792 and 1808. https://picasaweb.google.com/1100488...58844115852706
11 of the "150 Dunlop Deep Sky Objects" transit at about 10pm in March (11pm DST),
4 open clusters; Markarian 18, NGC 3114, NGC 3293, Melotte 101
3 nebulae; NGCs 3199, 3324, 3372 (eta Car)
2 globular clusters; NGCs 2808, 3201
1 open cluster/planetary nebula NGC 2818 and
1 galaxy NGC 2997.
Wikisky.org images are at https://picasaweb.google.com/1100488...52146/Dunlop28