It is incredible to let one’s eye roam over the pageant of stars and try to fathom the volume of space this 21ʹ x 15ʹ cloud of stars actually occupies. At 130x it is an impressively huge and oddly square-shaped cloud resplendent with stars that are scattered in uneven gatherings with dark star-less patches between them. Six very interesting and very different clusters lie around the periphery of the star cloud – the small and beautifully bright NGC 1767, 1772 and 1782 stud the starry cloud like small pieces of exquisite diamond jewellery left carelessly among a glut of diamond chips.

And although one’s eye is immediately drawn to these three clusters the other three clusters are among the other exquisite little treasures hidden among LH 8’s stars: SL 123 appears as a tiny droplet of brightish starlight just north of NGC 1767; a beautiful little arc of three brighter stars lies on the western side of the star cloud and its southern-most star has an oddly bloated shape – it’s the tiny cluster KMHK 292; and to the south of it, SL 109 appears as a very faint and misty puddle of starlight. Three other tiny little clusters lie hidden among the stars towards the centre of the star cloud, but they require higher magnification to see. With the help of the UHC filter, N94’s nebulosity appears as an extremely faint and extremely patchy, vague E-W arc, open to the N and lying towards the southern end of the star cloud.

16″ at 228x: SL 109 appears as a small puddle of soft, misty, unresolved starlight, ~20″ in diameter, with no discernible edges, they simply dwindle away. It lies nicely framed in a triangle of stars; but not centred, it lies close to the triangle’s northeast star.

16″ at 228x: This cluster is a little jewel! At 228x it appears as the southwest star in a lovely little three-star arc, oriented NNE-SSW and open to the northwest. However, at 333x: it reveals itself to be fairly bright, 15″ in diameter, and round with crisp edges.

16″ at 228x: BSDL 295 forms the east vertex of a triangle with KMHK 262 and SL 109. It looks like a brightish and out of focus star.

16″ at 228x: NGC 1767 appears bright, round, ~25″ in diameter, with a very small, bright core.  And it’s a very interesting core for at its centre, lost in the brightness of the small core lies a compact cluster, R157! The cluster has a halo around the core; it is very narrow, and has a powdered look. Two tiny faint stars are resolved in the halo – one to the south southwest, the other to the north. A couple of very tiny faint stars skip into and out of view with averted vision.

16″ at 228x: SL 123 lies just north of NGC 1767. It is relatively bright and stands out well, and one can’t look at NGC 1767 without noticing it and having a closer look. It appears round, ~15″ in diameter, with slightly fuzzy edges but none of that grainy mistiness that speaks of almost-resolved stars. The cluster is made prettier by a few brightish stars that lie randomly scattered around it.

16″ at 228x: This tiny little cluster has a nice bright little star to its southwest that alerts you that the tiny, faint, round smudge of starlight is not a star but an extremely small, faint, round cluster.

228x: NGC 1772 stands out boldly against its backdrop of countless stars; it’s the largest and has the best resolution of the six clusters lying around the periphery of the star cloud. It appears bright, irregularly round, 40″ x 35″ in diameter. It has a bright 15″ core. (There is little to my eye as intriguing as the merged droplet of bright concentrated starlight that speaks of a multitude of stars crowded together at a cluster’s core.) There is a lot of gritty mistiness around the small bright core and in it four small stars are resolved – three to the south and one to the north. Averted vision reveals a few more small stars that skip in and out of view like little bits of wayward glitter. Very lovely! A charming asterism lies west of NGC 1772 – a small gathering of sparklers that remind me of the Southern Pleiades!

16″ at 228x: NGC 1782 stands out boldly against the cloud of stars. It appears round, 40″ in diameter, strongly concentrated with a bright 15″ core. The misty halo appears less gritty, and more powdered looking than NGC 1772. A few tiny faint stars are resolved around the edges. Averted vision added a couple of tiny skippers! The cluster has two obvious asterisms closeby. A gracefully curved NW-SE chain of 4 brightish stars lies north of the cluster and to its south-southwest lie four stars that look like a mini Corvus!

16″ at 228x: As someone who is fascinated by Wolf-Rayet stars, I was very happy to discover this glorious star cloud houses one, albeit a bit faint at mag 15.1.

16″ at 228x + UHC filter: N94’s nebulosity appears as an extremely faint and extremely patchy, vague E-W arc, open to the north and lying towards the southern end of the star cloud. In the way of very faint nebulosity, it has no edges but simply melts away into the surrounding sky.