Bar – Chart 2

A striking pair of superbubbles standing out boldly against the bright bar

Location of Bar Chart 2

LH OB Associations: 33

NGC Objects: NGC 1856, 1860, 1863, 1865, 1870, 1885

Bar Chart 2

Steve Gottlieb's observations

N103 Superbubble

A dazzling superbubble

N103

N103 Superbubble

A dazzling superbubble

N103

N105 Superbubble

A beautifully bright superbubble

N105

N105 Superbubble

A beautifully bright superbubble

N105

SL 244 (Open Cluster)

RA 05 07 37.5 Dec -68 32 31 Mag 13.0 Size 1.0′

16″ at 228x: SL 244 is a pretty little cluster; it is fairly bright, round, 35″ in diameter. It has a grittiness embedded in the soft glow of unresolved stars that speaks of stars just beyond the ability of my telescope to resolve.

SL 244

NGC 1856 (Young Globular Cluster)

RA 05 09 30.3 Dec -69 07 45 Mag 10.1 Size 2.7′ x 2.4′ Age ~80 million years

16″ at 228x: NGC 1856 is a superb young globular! It has a very bright core, 30″ in diameter, surrounded by a beautifully hazy halo, extending the globular to ~1′.5 in diameter. Its halo is one of those infuriatingly charming halos that is beautifully granular, and gives me the impression that there are lots of resolved stars just beyond the ability of my telescope to resolve. This little beauty lies 2′ N of white mag 9.4 HD 34144.

NGC 1856

HS 139 + BRHT 47b (Binary Cluster)

HS 139: RA 05 09 45.6 Dec -68 47 32 Mag – Size 1.1′ Sep 0.75′ PA 17°

BRHT 47b: RA 05 09 42.9 Dec -68 48 06 Mag – Size 0.7′

16″ at 228x: This is a very small and very faint pair of clusters but it certainly is a satisfying observation to ferret the pair out from the bar’s rich haze. HS 139 appears as an exceeding faint, round haze, ~10″ in diameter. BRHT 47B appears nothing more than a faint and fuzzy-looking star.

HS 139 + BRHT 47b

SL 278 + BRHT 31b (Binary Cluster)

SL 278: RA 05 10 16.7 Dec -68 29 30 Mag 13.6 Size 0.9′ x 0.8′ Sep 0.43′ PA 1°

BRHT 31b: RA 05 10 15.0 Dec -68 29 54 Mag – Size 0.6′

16″ at 228x: SL 278 appears as a very faint, round haze of dim light, ~15″ in diameter, with its companion BRHT 31b appearing stellar on its south end.

SL 278 + BRHT 31b

SL 288 (Open Cluster)

RA 05 10 40.0 Dec -69 02 30 Mag 12.1 Size 0.85′

16″ at 228x: SL 288 appears as a fairly bright, round haze, ~20″ in diameter, that stands out nicely against the bar’s richly lustrous background.

SL 288

NGC 1860 (Open Cluster)

RA 05 10 41.1 Dec -68 45 12 Mag 11.0 Size 1.1′

16″ at 228x: NGC 1860 appears faint, round, ~35″ in diameter, its glow even; no stars resolved. Mag 10.4 blue supergiant HD 269128 lies 1.7′ SW. The open cluster forms a wide triangle with two young globular clusters: NGC 1863 5.5′ ENE (the triangle’s northern vertex) and NGC 1865 9.5′ ESE.

NGC 1860

LH 33 (OB Association)

RA 05 10 46.0 Dec -69 09 36 Size 6ʹ x 2ʹ

16″ at 228x: Lying almost midway between lovely NGC 1856 and the small faint smudge of SL 304, LH 33 is one of those associations that appear obvious once one knows it is there and stops for a careful look. It appears as a slender 6ʹ strip of hazy unresolved stars oriented NNW-SSE scattered with a few tiny pinprick stars, and a few others that glitter in and out of view.

LH 33

NGC 1863 (Young Globular Cluster)

RA 05 11 40.2 Dec -68 43 36 Mag 11.0 Size 1.4′ x 1.2′ Age –

16″ at 228x: Another lovely young globular cluster, NGC 1863 appears bright, irregular, ~30″ in diameter, and with a rich and even glow in which no stars are resolved. The globular cluster forms the northern vertex of a wide triangle with open cluster NGC 1860 5.5′ WSW and young globular cluster NGC 1865 9.5′ SE.

NGC 1863

NGC 1865 (Young Globular Cluster)

RA 05 12 24.9 Dec -68 46 19 Mag 12.9 Size 1.4′ Age –

16″ at 228x: NGC 1865 appears as a fairly faint, round, smooth glow, ~50″ in diameter. No stars are resolved. It forms the eastern vertex of a wide triangle with young globular cluster NGC 1863 9.5′ NW and open cluster NGC 1860 9.5′ WNW.

NGC 1865

HS 172 (Open Cluster)

RA 05 12 31.1 Dec -68 39 04 Mag – Size 0.9ʹ x 0.8ʹ

16″ at 228x: HS 172 appears as an exceedingly small, exceedingly faint droplet of dim light, only found owing to the star hop from bright NGC 1863 lying 6.5′ SW.

HS 172

NGC 1870 (Open Cluster)

RA 05 13 08.9 Dec -69 06 59 Mag 11.3 Size 1.1′ x 1.0′

16″ at 228x: NGC 1870 is a pretty little cluster lying against the bar’s shimmering glow, appearing bright, round, ~25″ in diameter, with no stars resolved.

NGC 1870

N112 (SNR)

RA 05 13 14.4 Dec −69 12 15 Size 4.1′ × 3.3′ Age 3,500 ± 1,500 years

16″ at 228x + OIII filter: Tiny, faint SNR J0513-6912 is conveniently located 8′ NNE from the gorgeous, bright young globular cluster NGC 1872 (out of the image, centre bottom) and 4′ SSE from small but bright NGC 1870. The SNR appears very faint, round, hazy, ~10″ in diameter. Averted vision certainly was useful in seeing all that is left of a once-massive star.