NGC 1894 = ESO 056-089 = S-L 344 = BRHT 8a

05 15 51  -69 28 06; Dor
V = 12.2; Size 1.4’x1.2′

30″ (10/15/15 – OzSky): at 394x; very bright, round, 0.8′ diameter, high surface brightness. A couple of mag 15+ stars are at the edge on the N side as well as a mag 13.5 star at the NW edge. Situated in a rich region of the LMC with a glowing background. NGC 1903 and NGC 1916, both showpiece globulars, lie 11′ NE and 15′ ENE, respectively. NGC 1876 and neighbors, an impressive HII complex, lies 15′ NW and NGC 1898 is 12′ SSE.

Notes: James Dunlop discovered NGC 1894 = D 124 = h2818 on 24 Sep 1826. He recorded (second drift on this date) “a small very faint round nebula, 12″ diameter.” His reduced position was 14′ too far south, but his drift record shows it was logged 3 minutes after NGC 1876 (the entire complex) and 6′ south, matching the offsets to NGC 1894.

John Herschel independently discovered NGC 1894 = h2818 on 24 Nov 1834 (sweep 513) and recorded “F; R; gradually brighter in the middle; 80″; resolvable. On a ground of small stars.” His position is accurate.

 

NGC 1898 = ESO 056-90 = S-L 350

05 16 41.9  -69 39 25; Dor
V = 11.9; Size 1.6′

30″ (10/15/15 – OzSky): at 394x; fairly bright, moderately large, irregular outline, nearly 1.0′ diameter, bright central region, very mottled, contains a very small bright nucleus. A mag 12.5 star is just off the SW edge, 30″ from center and two mag 12 stars are 2′ S and 1.7′ SE . Set within a rich background glow from the LMC, 12′ W of NGC 1918, a large nebulous cluster. Open cluster S-L 363 is 6′ E and NGC 1894 is 12′ NNW. NGC 1898 is one of 15 bona-fide ancient GC’s in the LMC.

Notes: James Dunlop discovered NGC 1898 = D 126 = D 88 = h2822 on 24 Sep 1826. He described D 126 (second sweep) as ” a very small round faint nebula, 6″ to 8″.” His reduced position was 9′ too far S (similar to other nearby objects in the drift), but it was placed 18′ due S of the previous object NGC 1903, matching the sky. D 88, recorded on 27 Sep 1826, was described as “a round faint nebula about 25″ diameter. North of three small stars forming a triangle.” His poorly reduced position was 21′ too far SE, but his drift data shows the offset from NGC 1939 (the next object) lands within 2′ of NGC 1898 and the description of the nearby stars clinches this identification.

John Herschel rediscovered NGC 1898 on 24 Nov 1834 (sweep 513). He described it as “F; R; 40″.” and measured an accurate position.

 

NGC 1903 = ESO 056-093 = S-L 356 = BRHT 9a

05 17 22.5  -69 20 17; Dor
V = 11.9; Size 1.5′

24″ (4/5/08 – Magellan Observatory, Australia): this showpiece cluster is located just 10′ SW of the NGC 1910 complex, which contains S Doradus. At 350x, it appeared very bright, ~1′ diameter, with a blazing 20″ core (cataloged as HD 35231). Perhaps 20 stars were resolved in the halo at this power with a single brighter star at the edge of the core on the south side. NGC 1916, another bright globular, lies 8′ SE.

NGC 1903 is situated in a wonderful section of the LMC; panning south and to the west yields field upon field filled with both bright and fainter clusters of all sizes, along with nebulous HII glows.

Notes: James Dunlop discovered NGC 1903 = D 125 = h2825 on 24 Sep 1826. He recorded (handwritten notes) “small nebula, rather well defined.” His reduced position was 10′ too far south, but his handwritten drift notes placed it 18′ due N of the next object, matching NGC 1898.

John Herschel rediscovered NGC 1903 on 3 Nov 1834 (sweep 509) and described it as “vB; S; R; gradually brighter in the middle; 30″.” His position on 5 sweeps (all similar descriptions) is accurate.

 

S-L 362

05 17 43.8  -69 34 06; Dor
V = 11.5; Size 0.95’x0.95′

24″ (4/5/08 – Magellan Observatory, Australia): this LMC cluster was picked up ~2′ W of a mag 10.3 star that lies between this object and NGC 1913. At 220x it appeared as a small, high surface brightness knot. At 350x, 5 or 6 very faint stars were tightly packed into the bright 20″ diameter glow, the brightest at the S edge.

Notes: S-L 362 was discovered on Bruce plates of the LMC and listed by Shapley as #71 of 166 clusters in the 1931 Bulletin 884 of the Harvard Observatory.

 

BRHT 10b

05 18 11  -69 32 27; Dor
Size 0.4′

24″ (4/5/08 – Magellan Observatory, Australia): NGC 1913 seems involved with an elongated bright glow NNW to SSE. At 350x, additional haze [perhaps this is partly from the glow of BRHT 10b close west] surrounds the main glow for a total size of 1.5’x1.0′.

Notes: Age: 630 Myr from Piatti et al. (2014A&A…570A..74P)

 

NGC 1913 = ESO 056-097 = S-L 373

05 18 18.7  -69 32 15; Dor
V = 11.1; Size 1.3’x1.1′

24″ (4/5/08 – Magellan Observatory, Australia): this is an interesting LMC cluster with possible nebulosity at 200x. A small triangle of mag 13-14 stars (12″-15″ on each side) is at the south edge and another three stars within the cluster are resolved. The cluster seems involved with an elongated bright glow NNW to SSE. At 350x, additional haze surrounds the main glow for a total size of 1.5’x1.0′. A mag 11.7 star lies 1.7′ E and a mag 10 star 2.2′ SW.

Continuing southwest for 2′ beyond the mag 10 star I also picked up S-L 362, which appeared as a small, high surface brightness knot. At 350x, 5 or 6 very faint stars were tightly packed into the bright 20″ diameter glow, the brightest at the south edge. These clusters are within the glow of the central bar, so the background is relatively bright.

Notes: John Herschel discovered NGC 1913 between Nov 1836 and Mar 1837 with a 5-inch refractor and recorded it as#356 in his preliminary catalogue of “Stars, Nebulae and Clusters in the Nubecula Major.” No description was given in the GC or NGC but his position is just 1′ SE of this small cluster.

 

NGC 1916 = ESO 056-098 = S-L 361

05 18 37.6  -69 24 25; Dor
V = 10.0; Size 2.1’x2.1′

24″ (4/5/08 – Magellan Observatory, Australia): at 200x, this LMC globular appeared very bright, moderately large, round, symmetric, 45″ diameter. The center was sharply concentrated with a small blazing core! NGC 1903, a showpiece globular, lies 8′ NW.

NGC 1916 is one of 15 bona-fide ancient GC’s in the LMC. It resides within the LMC’s central bar, ~10′ S of the large NGC 1910 complex, which contains S Doradus.

Notes: James Dunlop discovered NGC 1916 on 24 Sep 1826. He logged a “small much condensed nebula, well defined, 12″ diameter.” His position in the drift follows NGC 1910 by 36 seconds of time and 12′ S. These offsets point directly to NGC 1916. Dunlop didn’t assign the observation a separate catalog number.

John Herschel discovered NGC 1916 = h2829 on 3 Nov 1834 (sweep 509) with description, “vB; vS; R; gradually brighter in the middle; 20″.” His position (measured on 3 sweeps) is accurate. Shapley and Lindsay (“A Catalogue of Clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud”, Irish Astronomical Journal, Vol. 6, 1963) give a diameter of 60” and comment “NGC 1916, very condensed centre, unresolved.” The RA has a misprint of 1 minute too small and this error was copied into the RNGC.

 

NGC 1921 = LMC-N121 = ESO 056-102 = S-L 381 = BRHT 49a

05 19 23  -69 47 18; Dor
V = 12.3; Size 1.0′

30″ (10/15/15 – OzSky): at 394x; moderately bright but small nebulous glow, with a mag 13.5 “star” [extremely compact emission nebula (N121) or star cluster BRHT 49b] just off the W edge [20″ separation]. A very faint star was visible at its SW edge. There was only a weak response to an NPB filter at 152x. Located at the S end of a very rich region of the LMC (south side of the central bar) just 8′ S of the NGC 1918 complex. Numerous other clusters lie ~15′ N. A faint cluster (H-S 227) was noticed 2′ SW. It was a very faint, roundish, low surface brightness glow, ~20″ diameter.

Notes: James Dunlop possibly discovered NGC 1921 = D 89 = h2834 on 24 Sep 1826. He recorded “a pretty well-defined round nebula, about 20″ diameter.” Although his reduced published position was 15′ too far ESE, reference to his handwritten sweep record shows a plausible match. With respect to D 90 = NGC 1939 (the next object in the drift) he logged D 89 just 40 seconds prior and 10′ N. Although the declination offset matches, the time (RA) is off by over a minute.

John Herschel discovered NGC 1921 = h2834 on 12 Nov 1836 and recorded “very faint; oval; round; 40″.” His position from a single sweep is accurate.

Bhatia et al. (1991) cataloged NGC 1921 as a double cluster, though the western object may be an emission star.

 

S-L 385 = BRHT 35a

05 19 25.7  -69 32 27; Dor
V = 12.8; Size 1.0’x0.95′

24″ (4/5/08 – Magellan Observatory, Australia): this LMC cluster, along with S-L 387, were picked up ~3′ SW of NGC 1922 and 6′ WSW of NGC 1926 using a Mati Morel’s LMC close-up chart. The clusters are close twins – both soft round glows of ~30″ diameter and separated by just 45″ in an E-W orientation. BRHT listed the pair as a double cluster.

Notes: Robert Innes discovered S-L 385, along with S-L 387, on a photograph taken with the 10-inch Franklin-Adams camera of the Johannesburg (Union) Observatory. They were catalogued in the 1924 “Catalogue of Clusters and Nebulae Near the Large Magellanic Cloud” as “two small round nebulae in contact.” Shapley listed S-L 385 as #74 of 166 LMC clusters found on Bruce plates in the 1931 Harvard College Bulletin #884 (“Notes on the Large Magellanic Cloud, IV. The Galactic Clusters.”)

 

S-L 387 = BRHT 35b

05 19 33.9  -69 32 33; Dor
V = 13.1; Size 0.95’x0.85′

24″ (4/5/08 – Magellan Observatory, Australia): this is the eastern member of a close pair of fainter LMC clusters with S-L 385 just 45″ W. These clusters lie ~3′ SW of NGC 1922 and at 200x appears as relatively faint, round, 30″ glows with little or no concentration.

Notes: Robert Innes discovered S-L 387, along with S-L 385, on a photograph taken with the 10-inch Franklin-Adams camera of the Johannesburg (Union) Observatory. Shapley listed S-L 387 as #75 of 166 LMC clusters found on Bruce plates in the 1931 Harvard College Bulletin #884.

 

NGC 1922 = ESO 056-103 = S-L 391

05 19 49.7  -69 30 04; Dor
V = 11.5; Size 1.4’x1.2′

24″ (4/5/08 – Magellan Observatory, Australia): at 200x, this LMC cluster appears as a very small but high surface brightness knot, ~15″ diameter with a tiny 8″ core. A 3′ chain of four mag 11-12 stars extends to the north and another chain extends to the east. A very close pair of faint clusters, S-L 385 and 387, lie 3′ SW. The clusters are close twins – both soft round glows of ~30″ diameter and separated by just 45″ in an E-W orientation.

Notes: John Herschel discovered NGC 1922 between Nov 1836 and Mar 1837 with a 5-inch refractor and included it as object #374 his table of “Stars, Nebulae and Clusters in the Nubecula Major.” Dreyer added the cluster to the GC Supplement as #5063. Herschel’s position is 1.5′ too far north. It’s possible that James Dunlop’s D 131 refers to NGC 1922, but there are several nearby candidates, so assigning it to NGC 1922 seems very speculative.

 

NGC 1926 = ESO 056-105 = S-L 403

05 20 35.4  -69 31 33; Dor
V = 11.8; Size 1.1’x0.8′

24″ (4/5/08 – Magellan Observatory, Australia): this bright LMC cluster appeared moderately large, ~55″ diameter, irregularly round with a high surface brightness. Located between two mag 11.5 stars 1′ S and 1.5′ N. Located along the central bar with NGC 1922 4.2′ WNW and NGC 1928 3.4′ NE.

Notes: James Dunlop probably discovered NGC 1926 on 3 Aug 1826. He described D 131 as “a very faint ill-defined small nebula.” and his position is just 2′ to the NE.

John Herschel rediscovered NGC 1926 = h2838 on 3 Nov 1834 (sweep 509) and recorded “pB; R; 60″. Situated in the main body of the Nubecula Major.” On 24 Nov 1834 (sweep 513) he wrote “pB; pL; irregularly R; resolable. Field full of light, consisting partly of stars, and partly of resolvable nebula.” His positions match this cluster.

 

NGC 1928 = ESO 056-106 = S-L 405

05 20 57.5  -69 28 41; Dor
V = 12.5; Size 1.3’x1.3′

24″ (4/5/08 – Magellan Observatory, Australia): at 200x; fairly bright, fairly small, round, 40″ diameter with a symmetrical appearance. Forms the last of three clusters with NGC 1926 3.4′ SW and NGC 1922 6′ WSW, along the richly populated central bar. A very distinctive trapezoid of four mag 10-11 stars (sides 1′-1.5′) is just a couple of arc minutes NE. NGC 1928 is one of 15 bona-fide ancient GC’s in the LMC.

Notes: John Herschel discovered NGC 1928 = h2839 on 3 Nov 1834 (sweep 509) and recorded “pB; R; 60″. Situated in the main body of the Nubecula Major.” On 11 Nov 1836 (sweep 748), he wrote “vF; R; gradually brighter in the middle. Field full of the nebulous light of the great Nubecula.”

James Dunlop possibly discovered NGC 1928 earlier on 3 Aug 1826. He described D 131 as “a very faint ill-defined small nebula.” and his position is just 1.7′ S of NGC 1928, but also just 2′ NE of NGC 1926. I’d be surprised if Dunlop picked up one of these clusters and not the other, so perhaps neither identification is correct. Another possibility is D 131 refers to NGC 1922, which is 5.6′ W of his position! With several nearby clusters, I don’t see how D 131 can be assigned to a specific cluster with any confidence.

 

LH 46

05 21 23.0  -69 27 36; Dor
Size 4’x3′

24″ (4/5/08 – Magellan Observatory, Australia): at 200x; a very distinctive trapezoid of four mag 10-11 stars (sides 1′-1.5′) is just a couple of arc minutes to the NE of NGC 1928. These along with fainter nearby stars form the OB association LH 46.

 

LMC-N127A = H-S 248

05 21 35  -69 40 21; Dor
V = 12.7; Size 1.0′

30″ (10/18/17 – OzSky): at 264x this LMC emission nebula was bright, compact, roundish, 40″ diameter, slightly brighter central region, thin fainter halo. A star was visible at the center. Very good response to the NPB (narrow-band) filter. Forms a “pair” with open cluster S-L 418 2′ NE. Located in the rich LMC central bar 16′ N of NGC 1938/1939 and 12′ E of NGC 1918.

 

S-L 418 = OGLE-CL LMC 400

05 21 49.8  -69 39 03; Dor
V = 12.8; Size 0.9′

30″ (10/18/17 – OzSky): at 429x; moderately bright and large, roundish, 45″ diameter, unresolved. This open cluster forms a pair with emission nebula N127A = HS 248 2′ SW. Located 10′ SE of NGC 1926 and 14′ E of NGC 1918.

Notes: Shapley-Lindsay: 25″, “Irregular, unresolved.”