U 317
06:08 to 06:40
-17° to -28°
CMa, Col, Lep

FEATURED OBJECTS: NGC 2207, NGC 2217, NGC 2196, NGC 2223, NGC 2227, ESO490-G?022, NGC 2204, vdB 83.

NGC 2207
ESO556-IG008
RA 06:16:21
Dec -21°22.3'
Galaxy

h: "pB, pL, mE in pos = 87° approx, pslbM, 2.5' long, 40 arcseconds broad, to a tolerably well defined round nucleus."

According to Dreyer, both Howe and Stewart agree that the object is bi-nuclear, surrounded by a faint trace of a ring.

Burnham calls it a 12.3 mag spiral galaxy measuring 2.5' x 1.5', pretty bright, pretty large, much elongated, pretty suddenly a little brighter in the middle with a bright nucleus. He notes that it is either a double galaxy or an interacting pair. The companion is IC 2163.

Hartung writes: "This conspicuous hazy elliptical nebula about 3' x 2' in pa 85 deg lies in a field with many scattered stars; it has a well-condensed nucleus which looks elongated preceding. 15cm shows the elliptical shape well."

A supernova erupted in this galaxy in 1975 (14.4v).

NGC 2217
ESO489-G042
RA 06:21:38
Dec -27°14.0'
Galaxy

h: "B, R, psmbM, 30 arcseconds." On a second occassion he called it "vB, R, psmbM, 30 arcseconds, resolvable."

Tom Lorenzin: “12M; 4'x 3' extent; bright oblong with brighter center, but no stellar core; see photo at HAG-43.”

G. de Vaucouleurs ("Galaxies and the Universe", Chapter 14 - Nearby Groups of Galaxies) notes that the five brightest members of the NGC 2207 Group are NGC 2207, NGC 2217, NGC 2223, NGC 2280 & NGC 2139.
Sidney van den Bergh (1961, Astronomical Journal, Vol 66) notes that this galaxy could be a radio source. He remarks: "Apparently normal SBa. Not in cluster."

Included in the CCD-atlas of Ryder S.D. & Dopita M.A. (1993) “An H-alpha Atlas of Nearby Southern Spiral Galaxies” Astrophys.J.Suppl. 88, 415. They note: “This is the earliest-type galaxy in the atlas, and good test of the detection efficiency of our imaging system. It is classified as a late-type lenticular galaxy, and not surprisingly, exhibits barely any star formation activity.”

NGC 2196
ESO556-G004
RA 06:12:09
Dec -21°48.4'
Galaxy

Discovered in 1784 by William Herschel (H II-265) "pF, pS, iF, lE, bM."

h: "F, R, pslbM, 1'." On a second occassion he called it "pB, R, gmbM, 40 arcseconds." His third observation was recorded as "B, pL, R, pspmbM. Many stars near it." The final record reads: "pF, R, gbM, 1', resolvable."

NGC 2223
ESO489-G049
RA 06:24:35
Dec -22°50.3'
Galaxy

h: "vF, S, R, has a vS star at N.f. edge, and a double star N.f." On a second occassion he called it "F, R, glbM, 80 or 90 arcseconds, has one or two stars in or near the middle."

NGC 2227
ESO556-G023
RA 06:25:56
Dec -22°00.3'
Galaxy

h: "eF, R, has a coarse double star preceding on same parallel 90 arcseconds, distant."

ESO490-G?022
VV 134B
RA 06:39:43
Dec -27°14.6'
Galaxy

NGC 2204
Mel 44, Cr 88, Rb 34
RA 06:15:41
Dec -18°38.0'
Open cluster

Discovered in 1785 by William Herschel (H VII-013) "a cluster of scattered stars, not very rich, above 15' diameter."

Listed by the Herschel Club, described as “scattered, yellow-orange star visible within cluster. 8-inch, 48x.”

Tom Lorenzin: “9M; 10' diameter; 60-plus 12M and dimmer members; fairly rich, though dim and poorly resolved; 6M star off NW edge is SAO 151274”

10-inch f/5 Newtonian: A 10-inch f/5 at 30x shows this as a very faint, elongated milky patch of light lying inside a triangle of 9th mag stars; undecided whether it can be resolved, but there does appear to be a line of four or five slightly brighter stars in the general haze. At 120x this line of stars is shown to be only two stars, and a further two, even fainter stars, can be glimpsed. (suburban skies) [AS]

vdB 83
vdB 84
RA 06:39:59
Dec -27°18.0'
Open cluster