U 457
19:48 to 21:00
-61° to -72°
Pav
Jun-Nov

FEATURED OBJECTS: IC 5052, NGC 6943, NGC 6872, NGC 6876, IC 5053, NGC 6877, IC 4887.

IC 4887
ESO073-G009
RA 19:48:19
Dec -69°35.2'
Galaxy

NGC 6872
VV 297A, ESO073-IG032
RA 20:16:54
Dec -70°46.1'
Galaxy

h: “F, R, glbM, 30 arcseconds, has a vS star preceding; first of four.” His next record reads: “F, E, 40 arcseconds long, has a star 9m 10.5 seconds preceding.” The four object mentioned are NGC 6872, NGC 6876, NGC 6877 & NGC 6880.

Bergwall et.al. (1978, Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. 33, 243-255) gives this galaxy's B-magnitude in the Johnson system as 13.4. They remark: “The very large dimension and general morphology indicate mass loss due to interaction with ESO 073-IG 33 [IC 4970]. Associated (?) with ESO 073-IG 35 [NGC 6876], ESO 073-IG 36 [NGC 6877], ESO 073-IG 37 [NGC 6880] and ESO 073-IG 38 [IC 4981].”

Sandage (1975, Astrophysical Journal, 202, 563-582) notes that this galaxy is a member of the Pavo Group. Members include NGC 6872, NGC 6876, NGC 6877, NGC 6880, IC 4960, IC 4967 & IC 4970. NGC 6782 & IC 4970 are background members.

Jack Bennett wrote in MNASSA, Vol 38, No 7-10, October 1979, p45: “NGC 6872 has recently been found to probably be the largest spiral galaxy known . . Readers may be interested to know that under favourable conditions this distant object can be seen with a 20cm Celestron telescope. With a magnification of 80 it appears as a faint irregular blur which apparently represents the luminous central region. There is a 9th magnitude foreground star a few seconds of arc preceding the centre. Attempts to glimpse this galaxy with telescopes of smaller aperture have been unsuccessful. About 7 or 8 minutes of arc South following the object is a smaller, roughly circular blur identified as galaxy NGC 6876. This is more easily seen and must undoubtedly be brighter than the 13th magnitude given in the RNGC.”

NGC 6876
ESO073-IG035
RA 20:18:19
Dec -70°51.5'
Galaxy

h: “pF, R, 20 arcseconds, a vS almost invisible star S.f., second of four.” The four object mentioned are NGC 6872, NGC 6876, NGC 6877 & NGC 6880.

This very faint elliptical galaxy in Pavo, magnitude 12.6, measures 2.4' by 1.8'. It appears as a small, round tuft of light without any detail. Discovered by Sir John Herschel, he described it as “pretty bright, small, round, extremely small star south Following, second of four.” The other galaxies involved are NGC 6872, NGC 6877 & NGC 6880.

Bergwall et.al. (1978, Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. 33, 243-255) gives this galaxy's B-magnitude in the Johnson system as 13.2. They remark that NGC 6876, ESO 073-IG 35, is “In pair with ESO 073-IG 36 Associated (?) with ESO 073-IG 32 [NGC 6872], ESO 073-IG 33 [IC 4970], ESO 073-IG 37 [NGC 6880] and ESO 073-IG 38 [IC 4981] The velocity difference gives little support to the interaction interpretation of IG 35, 36. Vo = 3803 kms-1. Large outer envelope.”

NGC 6877
ESO073-IG036
RA 20:18:35
Dec -70°51.2'
Galaxy

h: “eF, eS, the thirds of a group of four.” On a second occassion he called it “vF, vS, R.” The four object mentioned are NGC 6872, NGC 6876, NGC 6877 & NGC 6880.

NGC 6943
ESO074-G006
RA 20:44:32
Dec -68°44.8'
Galaxy

h: “pF, L, mE, vgbM, 3.5' long, 1.5' broad, has a barely perceptible point in the middle.”

This 12th magnitude barred spiral in Pavo measures only 4.1' by 2.1' across and appears as a large faint haze with a bright centre.

G. de Vaucouleurs (“Galaxies and the Universe”, Chapter 14 - Nearby Groups of Galaxies) notes that the four brightest members of the NGC 6876 Group are NGC 6943, IC 5052, NGC 6876 & NGC 6808.

IC 5052
ESO074-G015
RA 20:52:06
Dec -69°12.2'
Galaxy

IC 5053
ESO074-G018
RA 20:53:36
Dec -71°08.4'
Galaxy