U 387
00:24 to 01:12
-39° to -50°
Phe, Scl
Sep-Dec

NORTH-WEST OF THE BRILLIANT ACHERNAR, in a somewhat barren part of sky, lies the bright Ankaa, alpha Phoenicis, marking the head of the mythical Phoenix, eternal inhabitant of the Arabian desert. The wing of the Phoenix opens to the left of the chart, marked by 3rd magnitude beta. Interestingly, the curve of stars alpha-kappa-mu-beta-nu, ending with gamma on U388, forms the old Arabian constellation The Boat.

Besides a few coloured stars, there’s not much else on this map for the casual observer.

FEATURED OBJECTS: ESO193-G009, MCG-07-01-009, ESO293-IG034, NGC 98, MCG-07-02-009, ESO242-G017, MCG-07-02-011, NGC 324, IC 1609, ESO243-G051.

ESO193-G009

RA 00:00:52
Dec -47° 21.3'
Galaxy

MCG-07-01-009

RA 00:06:20
Dec -41° 29.3'
Galaxy

ESO293-IG034
A0003-41
RA 00:06:20
Dec -41° 29.6'
Galaxy

NGC 98
ESO242-G005
RA 00:22:48
Dec -45° 16.2'
Galaxy

Discovered by Sir John Herschel at the Cape of Good Hope with an 18-inch f/13 speculum telescope. He recorded it as "very faint; round; brighter in the middle; resolvable."

The RNGC (Sulentic and Tifft 1973) notes that this is a unverified southern object.

The ESO/Uppsala Survey of the ESO(B) Atlas remarks: "Distorted. Brightest in group."

MCG-07-02-009

RA 00:35:17
Dec -44° 05.5'
Galaxy

ESO242-G017

RA 00:35:17
Dec -44° 04.9'
Galaxy

MCG-07-02-011

RA 00:39:16
Dec -43° 04.5'
Galaxy

NGC 324
MCG-07-03-002, ESO295-G025
RA 00:57:14
Dec -40° 57.5'
Galaxy

Discovered by Sir John Herschel at the Cape of Good Hope with an 18-inch f/13 speculum telescope. He recorded it as "F, S, stellar; the bad definition of a south-easter prevents certainty, but I think it is not a star."

The ESO/Uppsala Survey of the ESO(B) Atlas remarks: "In cluster. NGC position 30' off."

The RNGC (Sulentic and Tifft 1973) notes that this is a galaxy. Their coded description reads EO),R,B,BM.

IC 1609
MCG-07-03-004
RA 00:59:48
Dec -40° 20.8'
Galaxy

The ESO/Uppsala Survey of the ESO(B) Atlas remarks: "In cluster?."

ESO243-G051

RA 01:11:18
Dec -45° 56.0'
Galaxy

Coloured Stars

alpha Phe orange-yellow/ deep yellow
beta Phe yellow / deep yellow
kappa Phe white
mu Phe pale yellow
nu Phe white
lambda-1 Phe white
lambda-2 Phe white
rho Phe white
upsilon Phe white