LH 89

A gorgeous gathering of mixed magnitude stars, among which are 4 Wolf-Rayet stars

Image credit Robert Gendler

RA: 05h 36m 12.0s Dec: -68° 57′ 00″

Diameter: 9′ x 4′

OB Associations: LH 89

NGC Objects: NGC 2042

LH 89 is very eye-catching in the telescope

16″ at 228x: LH 89 = NGC 2042 is a gorgeous association situated in a gorgeous location! It lies just off the north-eastern shores of the Tarantula Nebula. It appears as a SW-NE elongated assemblage of stars and haze, ~6′ in size. Easily two dozen stars of mixed magnitude are resolved, among which are a few lovely bright mag 10 stars. There is a strangely star-sparse patch in the centre of the association. The stars overlay a lovely haze of both unresolved stars and some hazy nebulous wisps from the Tarantula Nebula. The addition of the UHC filter reveals the few nebulous wisps as faint and patchy and faded, much as one expects outlying wisps from the magnificent Tarantula to look like!

Towards the northeast end lies the pair of binary clusters, BRHT 16a and 16b. They both appear small and bright, ~20″ in diameter, with the b component being just a smidgeon smaller than its companion. Four Wolf-Rayet stars inhabit this association, three of which are pretty faint 15 mag, but Brey 64 is a nice mag 13.3.