Can someone please observe NGC 5946 for me?

[Gem]

Hi all,

I was going through a number of objects with the 16" dob last night when I came across GC NGC 5946 (in Norma). It appeared like a small - mid size smudge with a bright outlier. Yet, on a photo of it from the Deep Sky Survey - there is no clear bright outlier. The brightness of the outlier caused the object to almost seem like it had a dark lane in it (optical affect of the brighter outlier). I checked the Star Atlas for any galaxies I might have accidently observerd - but there is no other objects nearby.

Any secondary observations/impressions would be appreciated!! :)

[astroron]

Hi Grant there is a bright outllier, which does give the GC an impression of a dark lane.
See image here http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~arecasc/images/npglobimages/ngc5946_225.jpg

DSS images are not the best images for comparing what you see through the eyepiece :(
Normally you can get better images that approximate what you see by just googling the object number.

Cheers:thumbsup:

[Gem]

Thanks! I used DSS simply since I had nothing else on hand at the time. I usually hate looking at photos when observing.

Much appreciated! :)

[PeterM]

If it's of any use here is a quick shot 10 & 20 second image I took tonight while doing my galaxy run. They are no oil painting but perhaps useful. The object is also in Hartungs as object 697 where it notes "small moderately bright globular cluster lies in a beautiful star field with a number of of fairly bright wide pairs especially south, making a curious effect"

[Gem]

Thanks again! I hadn't thought of Hartung's since so many objects I did on the run last night were not in Hartung's... I will have to go back to it now and crank up the power. I was only viewing on low power (24mm EP) and the dew was quite bad last night in the ACT.

Appreciated! :)

[Paddy]

Had a chance to observe this last night. I definitely concur that there is a fg star which creates the impression of a dark lane. Here are my notes:

175x 3.5’ soft round GC with marked 2’ central concentration. Halfway between the W edge of the core and the edge of the halo is a foreground star. I agree with suggestions that this gives the impression of a dark lane to the W of the core. No cluster stars are resolved.

[Gem]

Thanks! Good to know others see it the same way! :)