[sac-forum] Last Call for Observations

There is still enough time to submit observations for Cygnus and get them in 
the next issue of the newsletter.  So far observations from Charlie Whiting, 
Dick Harshaw and Rick Rotramel have been included.

If you have chance this coming weekend why not try the constellations for the 
next two months?  They are Lacerta and Pisces Austrinus.

If you are trying to remember the objects in these 3 constellations, worry no 
more as they follow - straight out of the articles themselves.

For October the observations will come from the Swan Cygnus and will start with 
the cluster NGC6819 that has over 100 stars from 11th mag.  Should be quite 
pretty.  Next is a selection from Sky and Telescopes' Deep Sky Wonders authored 
by Sue French.  It's an asterism called the Fairy Ring that is a gathering of 
pretty faint stars, including some doubles and interesting stellar colors.  It 
is located at R.A. 20h 04.1m Dec +38° 14' is round and about 20'.  Let us know 
what colors you see.  Nearby is NGC6888 a 10th mag nebula that should be large, 
pretty bright and elongated.  The next nearby entry is an open cluster NGC7044. 
 This Herschel 400 entry is large, rich and faint with stars from 15th to 18th 
mag.  Moving 1.5° almost due south of Gamma (g) Cygni is Berkeley 86 and its 30 
stars from mag 9.5.  The last of the Herschel 400 entries is NGC6910 in the 
Gamma (g) Cygni nebulosity.  It is another open cluster with about 50 stars and 
should be easily found.  Last is M 39  This bright, large, loose cluster should 
be easily found.

 

So far we haven't done anything in the constellation of Lacerta.  Surprisingly 
it contains open clusters and galaxies, which is what waits us for this 
session.  Starting from the western part, near Cygnus, is NGC7209, a bright 
open cluster that is in both the 110 Best NGC and Herschel 400 lists.  It has 
about 25 stars from 9th mag.  Do you see it as scattered or compressed?  About 
5° south is the barred spiral NGC7223.  What about the bar and spiral arms?  
Can you see them?  Moving towards the northern part of the constellation is the 
open cluster IC1422 and its 25 or so stars.  The second galaxy, NGC7265, is 
same magnitude as NGC7223 but is larger and has a lower surface brightness.  
NGC7296 is on the Herschel 400 list is small and has 20 stars, so it may not be 
that easy to find.  The last selection is the elliptical galaxy NGC7426.  
Beware it is just to the east of SAO72851, a double star, whose primary is mag 
5.7.



Our constellation, for December, is Piscis Austrinus meaning Southern Fish.  
There are numerous galaxies in this constellation that should be within reach 
of 8" telescopes.  So, let us hope the weather favors us for this unexpected 
trip below the celestial equator.  Starting from the western end is the 
asterism titled Air Balloon and found at R.A. 21h 30.0m Dec -25° 30'.  It is 
about 45' in diameter, contains a nice collection of 7th and 8th mag stars and 
is described as a closed loop of stars.  What does it look like to you?  Now on 
to the galaxies and we start with NGC7135 that is mag 11.7, less than 3' and 
just southeast of 3 stars with mag 9.5, 10.3 and 11 that form a nice right 
triangle.  Now we move on to a galaxy group containing 4 or 5 galaxies.  The 
first is the spiral NGC7172, almost 12th mag, elongated and sporting an 
equatorial dust band.  Can you spot it?  The other galaxies are located just 7' 
due south and consist of NGC7173/74/76.  They are located between 2 stars of 
9th and 10th mag in a north of northeast position.  NGC7173 is the northern 
most, is 12th mag and somewhat elongated in a southeast position.  NGC7174 is a 
little larger, somewhat elongated in an easterly position and at mag 13.3 is 
the faintest of the group.  The last is NGC7176 only very slightly elongated 
with an uncertain position angle.  Also involved in this triple grouping is the 
mag 11.9 galaxy LEDA198475 located between NGC7173 and NGC7174.  This grouping 
of galaxies is also known as Hickson 90.  Moving on to the others, we continue 
with 11th mag NGC7314.  This galaxy is quite elongated, not doubt because we 
are seeing the bar of this barred galaxy.  Now mosey on to the spindle shaped 
IC5269, a rather small, elongated galaxy of mag 12.2.    Next is the nearly 
edge-on NGC7361 at mag 12.3.  Can you detect a little brighter middle?  Last we 
have the very elongated IC5271 at mag 11.6.  What do you see in the middle?


Yes, I know it is a rather long e-mail, but then there's lots to look at.

AJ Crayon
Phoenix, AZ

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