In the Glare of a Star!

[Robh]

IIS members,
:help: wanted.

This probably won't appeal to all the GOTO telescope users but I know many have a DOB as well. I'm after all the keen star-hoppers!
I'm interested in compiling a list of globular clusters or galaxies in the same FOV as a relatively bright nearby star; making them easy to find for beginners and all alike.
I have a 12 inch DOB, but I want the objects do-able in say an 8 or 10 inch telescope. The "bright" star must be magnitude 8 or better, so readily seen in an 8x50 finderscope under normal conditions. The object must be no further than about 2/3 of a degree (40 minutes) from the star so both will fit into a low power field. Not everyone has a wide-angle eyepiece.
I have no idea of the number but, if there are enough of them, I'll compile a list at the end of the thread for everyone to use.
I know of a few but I'll start the ball rolling with globular cluster NGC 6441 near G Scorpii (Vmag 3.2), 4' away.

Relying on your expertise, Rob.

[ngcles]

Hi Rob,

NGC 6144 is 39' NW of Antares (Alpha Scorpii) but in this case, the star is a positive hinderence to seeing glob -- you have to exclude it from the ep field.

Oh, and the glob itself isn't much of a showpiece either ...


Best

Les D

[Robh]

I've been working through a list I made by "sighting" objects (globulars and galaxies) near brighter stars from the Sky & Telescope's Pocket Sky Atlas!

NGC 2822 is just 5.5 minutes from beta Carinae, Vmag 1.7. Checked it out last night but the glare from the star and the closeness of the galaxy made it impossible to distinguish.
As Les mentioned globular NGC 6144 near Antares, Vmag 1.1, is difficult as too much glare from the star.

List attached for anyone interested ...
All stars are brighter than Vmag 6.
Most objects are galaxies. Globulars are marked with a GC.
All the ones with a Y (Yes) are easy. Can't comment on a lot of the others as haven't had time to check them visually.
If you know of any that are easy or hard, give us some feedback.

Regards, Rob.

[astroron]

NGC404 galaxy Mag 10.10 31arc min from (Mirach) Beta Andromeda mag 2.02:thumbsup:

[astroron]

Leo 1 mag 10.15, 20 arc min from Regulus Alpha Leo, mag 1.36.
Hard:D

[Robh]

Thanks Ron, appreciate the input. Will update the list later in the thread.

Regards Rob.

[Robh]

Finally, got to have a look at the globular cluster pair NGC 6522 and NGC 6528, Vmags 8.3 and 9.6. The two globulars are about the same size and can be seen in the same FOV as the star gamma Sagittarii, Vmag 3. They have the distinction of being the only two brighter globular clusters that can be seen in the same FOV as a bright star.
They are 16.5 minutes apart. NGC 6522 is 37 minutes from gamma Sgr, while NGC 6528 is 25 minutes from gamma Sgr.
Thanks to Les D (ngcles) for this pair.

Also nearby are the globular pair NGC 6569 and NGC 6558, Vmags 8.6 and 9.3. Again they are both in the same FOV, being 43 minutes apart. NGC 6569 is fairly bright but NGC 6558 is quite dim at nearly twice the size. They are located between gamma and epsilon Sgr with NGC 6569 just 8.5 minutes from the Vmag 6.8 star HD 166790.

Also worth a look are globulars NGC 6638, Vmag 9 and M28, Vmag 7.7. They are on opposite sides of lambda Sgr. NGC 6638 is 40 minutes from lambda while M28 is 57 minutes from the star.

Worth a look if you haven't seen them before.
Regards, Rob.