U 452
13:48 to 15:00
-61° to -72°
Aps, Cen, Cir, Mus, TrA
Mar-Aug

FEATURED OBJECTS: ESO097-G013, ESO134-SNR011, Bernes 145, NGC 5288, NGC 5316, NGC 5359, Lynga 1, Ru 110, Lynga 2, Tr 22, Ld 1339, Hogg 17, vdBH 164, Ld 1409, Ru 112, NGC 5315.

ESO97-G13
A1409-65, FKLB
RA 14:13:09
Dec -65°20.3'
Galaxy

Odd thing that John Herschel missed this tiny galaxy. At around 11th magnitude, it should have been quite visible to him.

Alejandro Cunningham, in an email message to me, notes that this galaxy is “very easily seen” in an 8-inch: “I want to stress that it was seen very well with an 8" f/6.6 reflector at 67x.”

6-inch f/8.6 Newtonian: “Bad sky conditions; perhaps seen, as a small nebulous eF patch, near a small star. Uncertain.” (Franschoek mountain pass summit, haze and thin clouds) [AS]

ESO134-SNR011
BMT 14
RA 14:40:28
Dec -62°38.7'
Bright nebula

Bernes 145
BHe 63
RA 14:49:20
Dec -65°14.5'
Bright nebula

NGC 5288
Cr 278
RA 13:48:41
Dec -64°40.0'
Open cluster

h: "a F, oblong elliptic cluster of stars 14th mag; glbM, 4' long, 2.5' broad." On a second occassion he called it "a S, irregular, round, very compact knot of Milky Way; gvlbM; stars 14th mag; a star 8th mag precedes."

Trumpler (Lick Obs Bul, Vol 14, No. 420) gives the diameter as 3' and the class as 2 2 p. The RNGC (Sulentic and Tifft 1973) notes that this is a 12.0 mag open cluster.

6-inch f/8.6 Newtonian: Nothing seen. (exurban skies, polar naked eye lim mag 6.0, darkness average, transparency very good) [AS]

NGC 5316
Mel 122, Cr 279, Rb 99
RA 13:53:58
Dec -61°51.0'
Open cluster

Dunlop 282 "A group of ten or twelve stars about the 10th mag, with a multitude of very small stars, forming an irregular branched figure, 8' or 10' long and 6' broad."

h: "cluster of stars, class VII; 14 stars 11th mag, and 30 or 40 smaller in a round space 8' diameter."

Trumpler (Lick Obs Bul, Vol 14, No. 420) gives the diameter as 11' and the class as 2 2 p.

ASV Journal Vol 24 No 3 June 1971: "scattered and easy in 4-inch 64x."

11x80: Distinct fuzz near Beta Centauri. Irregular haze, sprinkled with 9.5 mag stars which twinkle in and out of view. Reminds me of a well-resolved dim globular cluster. The stars making up the cluster are just on the verge of vision, and all are of the same magnitude, plus the additional haze of much fainter members. (exurban skies, polar naked eye lim mag 6.0, darkness average, transparency very good) [AS]

NGC 5359
ESO066-SC004
RA 14:00:08
Dec -70°23.5'
Open cluster

h: "Cluster VIII class, vL, loose; straggling; stars L&S; fills field. The star taken is a double one." On a second occassion he called it "Cluster class VIII; irregular figure; 8' diameter, consists of about a dozen stars 11th mag, and a great many 12, 13, 14th mag."

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

11x80: Near the border with Circinus, Apus and Musca lies this irregular clumping of 9th mag stars, mottled in appearance. It forms an irregular V-shaped grouping, 12' across, which is quite distinctly seen as a hazy patch when sweeping. (suburban skies) [AS]

Lynga 1
ESO133-SC010
RA 14:00:01
Dec -62°09.4'
Open cluster

Ru 110
ESO097-SC010
RA 14:05:24
Dec -67°27.7'
Open cluster

11x80: There just might be something here - maybe a large patch of star glow, or maybe not. (exurban, polar naked eye lim mag 6.0, darkness average, transparency very good) [AS]

6-inch f/8.6 Newtonian: At 52x, the cluster appears as an irregular, scattered cluster, elongated roughly northwest to southeast. Not too impressive. (suburban skies) [AS]

Lynga 2
ESO134-SC002
RA 14:24:33
Dec -61°20.0'
Open cluster

Tr 22
Cr 283, ESO134-SC006
RA 14:31:00
Dec -61°10.2'
Open cluster

Trumpler (Lick Obs Bul, Vol 14, No. 420) gives the diameter as 7' and the class as 3 2 p. He notes: “Found on Franklin-Adams Chart. Fairly well marked cluster of 12th mag stars thinly but uniformly scattered with regular outline.”

The SAC 4.0 database comments: "Asterism?"

11x80: All I can see here is a nebulous star. (exurban skies, average conditions) [AS]

Ld 1339
ESO134-SC008
RA 14:33:27
Dec -62°00.8'
Open cluster

Hogg 17
ESO134-SC009
RA 14:33:56
Dec -61°22.2'
Open cluster

vdBH 164

RA 14:44:05
Dec -66°22.0'
Open cluster

11x80: Nothing found. Near a large, prominent bird-headed shaped grouping of bright stars. Just north of where the cluster is supposed to be, there is a long narrow dark nebula. (exurban, polar naked eye lim mag 6.0, darkness average, transparency very good) [AS]

Ld 1409
ESO134-SC013
RA 14:44:41
Dec -61°41.0'
Open cluster

Ru 112
ESO135-SC001
RA 14:56:50
Dec -62°33.4'
Open cluster

NGC 5315
ESO097-PN009, PK309-04.02
RA 13:53:57
Dec -67°04.9'
Planetary nebula

This planetary nebula was not noticed by Sir John Herschel during his stay at the Cape of Good Hope. It was discovered spectroscopically by Copeland, and is recorded in the NGC as "stellar = 10.5 mag."

Hartung writes: "In a beautiful field with a bright pale yellow star 4' preceding is this bright small nebula ... it is fairly well defined, about 5 arcsec across and a 3-inch shows it clearly as a bluish star."

Sanford says that it "appears as a small, disk-shaped object, differing from a star only because of its bluish-green colour in low-power eyepieces. A high-power eyepiece will show a fairly bright, featureless disk about 5 arcseconds in diameter. The central star is listed at mag 11.4."

6-inch f/8.6 Newtonian: “Easy as a star of 10th magnitude, perhaps with an envelope. Up to 186x shows no obvious disc. A brightish field star conveniently nearby allows precise focusing to be checked.” (Franschoek mountain pass summit, haze, thin clouds) [AS]