All observations made using Dobsonion mounted 305mm Newtonian reflector at f/5. Eyepieces used are 34mm Meade 4000(44x) 24mm Panoptic (67x) 13mm Nagler T6 (115x) 10mm Ethos (150x) and 7mm Nagler (214x) and a 2x Televue Barlow
Charts - Uranometria 2000 (2nd ed.) Data derived from Uranometria (2nd ed) Deep Sky Field Guide (DSFG) with additional data from The Night Sky Observers Guide (NSOG) .
Observations for 17/10/11
Seeing good, transparency good.
NGC 7049 Galaxy in Indus
RA 21 19 00.6 Dec -48 33 42 Mag(V) 10.7 Dim’ 4.3 x 3 SB 13.3 Type SA(s)00 Unbarred spiral s shaped
Locate Alpha Indi by naked eye. Move Nf to Zeta Indi, a line of 3 stars running Sf to Np about 1deg long lies 4deg to Sf. Then move 2deg in f to a mag 6.5 star with a faint companion to p. Galaxy is just to Nf of this. Has a mag 10 star to the N. Faint overall but core is easily seen. Some EW elongation. A stellar feature in the core may be a foreground star.
NGC 7041 Galaxy in Indus
RA 21 16 32.3 Dec -48 21 47 Mag(V) 11.2 Dim’ 3.6 x 1.5 SB 12.9 Type SA(rs)0- Unbarred spiral s shaped with ring
Lies 40’ to pNp of NGC 7049. More elongated, quite small with a clear core.
NGC 7090 Galaxy in Indus
RA 21 36 28.4 Dec -54 33 18 Mag(V) 10.7 Dim’ 7.4 x 1.3 SB 13.0 Type SBc? Sp Barred Spiral Spindle
From Beta Indi move 4deg just to Mu Indi then 2.5deg to Nf to Theta Indi. A mag 6 star lies just over 1deg to f and target is 1deg to Sf of this.
Surrounded by faint stars. Very elongated, gradually brighter to middle. Surprisingly faint for a mag 10.7 edge on galaxy, but DSFG indicates low surface brightness of 13.0.
Post Observation Notes. The NSOG describes this galaxy as bright. Which would be expected with a edge on 10.7 galaxy. Les Dalrymple in his column in the August/Sept edition of AS&T mentions it has good surface brightness. He also mentions a mag 13 supernova imposter (NSOG gives it as mag 15) which was not visible.
Steve Crouch has a nice image here http://members.pcug.org.au/~stevec/ngc7090_STL6303_RC.htm
NGC 7083 Galaxy in Indus
RA 21 35 45.0 Dec -63 54 10 Mag(V) 11.2 Dim’ 3.9 x 2.3 SB 13.5 Type SA(s)bc I-II S shaped unbarred spiral
From Gamma Pavonis move 1deg Nf to a mag 7.5 star. Galaxy lies 20’ further Has a triangle of mag 10 stars to Sf. Fairly large, low surface brightness face on galaxy. No spiral structure detected.
Observations for 19/10/11
Seeing poor, transparency poor (some smoke and drifting clouds) Warm night with some breeze.
CR338 Open Cluster in Scorpius
RA 17 38 12.0 Dec -37 33 00 Mag 8.0 Diam’ 20 No. of Stars 40
Lies about 1deg to Sf of Shaula (Lambda Scorpii). Some mag 7 stars lie to S. Fairly large and dispersed. Approx 15-20 stars mag 10-11 with many fainter ones. Main cluster is 25’ to 30’ wide. Has a northern extension.
IC 2056 Galaxy in Reticulum
RA 04 16 24.7 Dec -60 12 26 Mag(V) 11.9 Dim’ 1.9 x 1.5 SB 12.9 Type (R)SAB(r)bc II Spiral with transitional bar and an outer ring
Located 1deg to S of Epsilon Reticuli in line with faint TT Reticuli. Small fuzzy patch, easily seen with averted vision. Oval halo, brighter core. Poor conditions made seeing nucleus as stellar not possible.
NGC 456, NGC 460 and NGC 465 Open Clusters associated with Bright Nebulosity in Tucana and the SMC
NGC 456 RA 01 13 43.9 Dec -73 17 35 Mag ? Diam’ 2 No. of Stars ?
NGC 460 RA 01 14 37.9 Dec -73 18 28 Mag 12.5 Diam’ 1 No. of Stars ?
NGC 465 RA 01 15 42.7 Dec -73 19 27 Mag 11.5 Diam’ 2 No. of Stars ?
Chain of 3 faint open clusters elongated EW about 15’ long in total. At 113x all 3 fit in FOV. Cluster to W (NGC 456) is supposed to have associated BN according to U2000 chart. UHC filter enhanced view so this appears to be the case. All 3 clusters hard to resolve with only a handful of stars visible.
Post Observation Notes. DSOG notes olso mention a good response to UHC filter on NGC 256, also mention it occurs with NGC 460 but not NGC 465. Steve Crouch has an image here http://members.pcug.org.au/~stevec/ngc456_STL11K_RC_LRGB.jpg which certainly supports this view. All the DSS images I have seen show very sparse OCs but no nebulosity. This is an interesting little patch of sky and well worth a look if you are tripping around the SMC. On Paddy’s Clouds of Magellan site they appear on the SMC chart 3 and the nebulae are identified as Heinz 83 and 84. There is also a very nice image by Greg Bradley here http://www.cloudsofmagellan.net.au/smcimages1.htm#ANCHOR_Textgregssmc that clearly shows this group in the bottom right corner.
Good to see you back in the swing of things after wandering to the north, Malcolm. Very interesting read and as always, very good to have your post observing research.