U 430
13:30 to 14:30
-39° to -50°
Cen, Lup
Mar-Jul

FEATURED OBJECTS: NGC 5168, NGC 5286, NGC 5284, NGC 5299, NGC 5307, NGC 5381, NGC 5593, NGC 5606, NGC 5617.

NGC 5168
Cr 273
RA 13:31:11
Dec -60° 56.0'
Open cluster

h: "place of a double star in centre of a rich, much compressed but vF cluster; gbM; 4' diameter, stars 15th mag; a remarkable object." On a second occassion he called it "a small but very rich milky way cluster; 3.5' long, 3' broad; stars 13..16th mag. Place that of a double star."

11x80: Suburban skies: appears as a small nebulous star. The hazy atmosphere is not very large. It is quite well seen using averted vision. Compare it with Ho 16 to the southwest. Pristine skies: Small, round glow that has to picked out with care from the busy 4° field. Rated as “difficult”, it looks like a star or a small globular cluster. [AS]

6-inch f/8.6 Newtonian: At 52x, shows as a 9th mag star surrounded by nebulosity. 217x and 325x shows 1 bright star (which I suspect has a slightly fainter companion) and another star, 11th mag. Most mysterious object - could dew be interfering with the observation? (suburban skies) [AS]

NGC 5286
Dun 388, ESO220-SC038, GCL-26
RA 13:46:24
Dec -51° 22.0'
Globular cluster

Dunlop 388: "a bright exceedingly well-defined rather elliptical nebula, about 1' diameter, exceedingly condensed almost to the very edge, and gradually a little brighter to the centre. This is about 6' north of M Centauri - I have a strong suspicion that this is resolvable into stars."

h: "very bright; gradually much brighter to the middle; 2.5' or 3' diameter; resolved into 15th mag stars; has one star 12th mag S.f.; the centre near the edge. It is in the field with Brisbane 4618 a star of 6th mag." His second observation records it as "bright; round; very gradually brighter to the middle; resolved; diam. 2'; stars of 16th mag; a bright star 7th mag in field."

Hartung writes that "this bright globular cluster shows faint star points with a four-inch. It is a fine object about 2.5' across with many scattered outliers and broad concentration to the centre, but is far outshone by a bright deep yellow star 4' N.p.; this is the spectroscopic binary M Centaurii..."

Bennett observed it with a 5-inch short-focus refractor, including it in his list of cometary objects as number 64.

11x80: Suburban: Easy to miss if you casually sweep the area. A slightly closer look at the star M Cen shows that it has a pretty large round hazy companion, which is the cluster. This ghostly after-image of the bright star is a breathtaking contrast to Omega Cen, just over a field away. Look for the Scorpio-like asterism in the same field. [AS]

6-inch f/8.6 Newtonian: At 52x the cluster appears bright, regularly round and much compressed. The bright orange M Cen lies to the south-east and makes an attractive, contrasting companion. Within the cluster on the edge lies a 10m star, which is seen at 144x but not at 52x. At 325x I suspect it is resolvable, the cluster appearing mottled. I also suspect another star in the outer regions. It seems irregular in shape at this power. (exurban skies) [AS]

NGC 5284

RA 13:46:34
Dec -59° 11.0'
“nonexistent”

h: "cluster class VIII. L, v rich, loosely scattered; stars 7-8 .. 16th mag; it is an outlier of the milky way, but very rich and much insulated."

The RNGC (Sulentic and Tifft 1973) notes that this is a nonexistent object. Their coded description reads NOCL S.

NGC 5299

RA 13:50:24
Dec -59° 56.0'
“nonexistent”

h: "Star cluster of Class VII; much more than fills field; a very large and rich milky way cluster, quite insulated on the preceding, north and following sides, and nearly so to the south; forming a kind of peninsular projection, but much richer than the main body of the milky way."

11x80: I don’t see anything in binoculars that resembles a ‘bright milky way cloud’. The whole area of the field is nebulous, typical milky way background, but nothing insulated enough to be called a separate object. Difficult to see the 9th mag star shown involved on the U2000 map. Sky conditions must be bad. (suburban skies, hazy sky, thin clouds) [AS]

NGC 5307
ESO221-PN011, PK312+10.01
RA 13:51:03
Dec -51° 02.7'
Planetary nebula

h: "A very singular object. At first I thought it an ill seen double star; 12..13 = 12..13 mag; distance 2 arcseconds; but not being able to get it into focus I applied 320 power; which showed it as a hazy, rather elongated, planetary nebulous disc, as if a double star all but obliterated. It is positively not a star. The field is full of stars, two of which ... are equal to this object in light, but 320 shows them both quite sharp. It is a difficult object to find, and unless in a good night for definition (this is superb) it could not be recovered. The place is well taken. The stars in the neighbourhood (laid down in a diagram made at the time) are - 1 the neb, 2=3=4 nearly equal, and 14th magl 5=15th mag; 6=7 12th mag. It is the smallest and most difficult planetary nebula I have ever seen ... (N.B. By this figure [figure 15, plate VI) it would seem rather to belong to the class of double nebulae or double stellar nebulae of the utmost remoteness, than to that of planetary nebulae, properly so called.)"

Hartung notes that "in a profuse star field is a small planetary nebula elliptical in PA 160 about about 10 arcseconds across ... with a 3-inch .. the object looks merely like a small star. The light is even with rather diffuse edges and no central star."

NGC 5381
Ru 109
RA 14:00:36
Dec -59° 33.0'
Open cluster

h: "Cluster VI; F, rich, highly compressed; consists of pL and eS stars; fig oblong; 10' long, 7' broad; place that of chief star 9th mag." On a second occassion he called it "Cluster VIII class; 8' long, 5' broad; stars 12th and 13th mag. (NB -- it is evident that in this obs. probably from defective weather, the eS stars of this cluster were not seen.)"

The RNGC (Sulentic and Tifft 1973) notes that this is a open cluster. Their coded description reads DOUBTFUL R.

NGC 5593
ESO175-SC008
RA 14:25:53
Dec -54° 47.0'
Open cluster

h: "a poor, coarse cluster, which is the most condensed part of a rich region of stars 10th mag. Place of a double star in the following part."

NGC 5606
Cr 281
RA 14:27:46
Dec -59° 38.0'
Open cluster

Dunlop 313: "a very minute group of small stars, about 2' long, extended in the parallel of the equator."

h: "a small close group of large and small stars, forming a cluster."

NGC 5617
Mel 125, Cr 282, Rb 101
RA 14:29:41
Dec -60° 42.0'
Open cluster

Dunlop 302: "A cluster of small stars of mixt mags, considerably congregated towards the centre, 4' or 5' diameter."

h: "Class VI object, very rich; irregularly round; pretty much compressed in the middle, but scattered at borders; 15'; there are three stars of 10th mag, 5 or 6 of 11th mag; the rest below 11th mag." On a second occassion he called it a "cluster of Class VII; irregular figure; not much compressed in the middle; large; 10' diameter. There are perhaps 100 stars, 11th and 11..12th mag; with a good sprinkling of 12 and 13." His final observation recorded it as "large, pretty rich, irregular cluster of scattered stars of 8..14th mag; fill field." The NGC description reads "large, pretty rich, pretty compressed in the middle, stars of 8th mag and fainter."

Bennett observed it with a 5-inch short-focus refractor, including it in his list of cometary objects as number 65. His coded description describes it as an irregular extended object which can be resolved into stars with a higher magnification.

Hartung calls it a "fine open cluster about 15' across with some central condensation, in a rich and beautiful region; it is well shown by 10.5cm."

11x80: An easy object, between Alpha and Beta Centauri, with a narrow diamond of stars attached. Appears as an irregular scattering of dim stars, individually too faint to be seen, forming a rough glowing patch. Not at all comet-like. Lies in a very rich field, of which it seems to be a part. [AS]

2-inch refractor: This small sprinkling of stars lies close to Alpha Centauri, only 80' west -- the glare from this star is irritating. Averted vision shows quite a number of cluster members sparkling out, with the main concentration of stars seeming to lie in a bar extending north-south. Due south of the cluster lies a narrow diamond of roughly 9th mag stars, shown on the Uranometria 2000.0 charts. (suburban skies) [AS]

8-inch Newtonian, 66x: “A group of faint stars (10) surrounded by various brighter ones (9) that I believe do not form part of the cluster. I consider it of class II with a concentration to the centre. It seems that there are two groups of stars in terms of brightness. The brighter are pictured in the sketch, over a whitish background that I could not resolve. Medium richness.” (suburban skies) [GG]

8-inch Newtonian Meade, 18mm eyepiece: An excellent example of a packed, large roundish open cluster. Brighter to the middle with stars forming a (straight?) line running out to the east in a medium to rich starfield. [GG]