LMC-N214A = DEM L 274

05 39 54 -71 09 44; Men
Size 0.6′

25″ (4/5/19 – OzSky): at 244x; N214A is the northwestern knot of a close double nebula with slightly fainter N2414B, only 0.6′ between centers. N214A was nearly moderately bright, fairly small, round, 25″ diameter. A group of 10 or stars, including 5 in pentagon outline with a star in the middle, is east and south.

LMC-N214B

05 39 57 -71 10 16; Men
Size 0.6′

25″ (4/5/19 – OzSky): at 244x; N214B is the southeastern knot of a close double nebula with similar N214A only 0.6′ NW of center. Both appeared nearly moderately bright, fairly small, round, 25″ diameter. Much fainter N214D is 1′ SE. Located 4′ NW of a mag 10.5 star (HD 269944) and 12′ NW of NGC 2103.

LMC-N214D = DEM L 276

05 40 07 -71 11 06; Men
Size 1.2′

25″ (4/5/19 – OzSky): at 244x, faint glow close southeast of brighter NGC 214A and B and immediately west of a mag 14 star. Mag 13.1 SK -71 49 is just over 1′ S, but I didn’t see N214E, which surrounds this star.

LHA 120-S 169

05 41 37.7 -71 19 03; Men
Size 5″

25″ (10/17/17 – OzSky): at 244x unfiltered; a bright quasi-stellar knot was visible at the north edge (0.9′ N of the central star) of NGC 2103. Adding a NPB filter, this small knot (a high excitation HII blob or HEB) was prominently visible.

Note: HEBs are small dense regions, usually “only” 4 to 9 light-years wide, which sometimes form adjacent to or inside giant H II regions and represent “early stages of massive stars (O-type) emerging from their embryonic molecular clouds.”

NGC 2103 = LMC-N214C = ESO 57-24 = S-L 660 = LH 110

05 41 40 -71 19 56; Men
V = 10.8; Size 3.5’x2.5′

25″ (10/17/17 – OzSky): at 244x unfiltered; fairly bright, very large, roundish glow surrounding a central star (12.7-magnitude O2-type Sk -71°51) with a bright quasi-stellar knot at the north edge (0.9′ N of the central star). Increasing the magnification to 397x, ~8 total stars are involved. The nebula was clearly elongated NNW-SSE (tapering on the SSE end) and brighter along a central spine. The addition of a NPB filter at 244x produced an excellent contrast gain; the nebula appeared very bright with an irregular surface brightness and the small knot at the north edge (a high excitation HII blob or HEB) was a prominent feature.

Note: The central “star” Sk -71°51 was resolved by the ESO New Technology Telescope into a compact cluster with at least 6 components in a 4″ region! The HEB is a small dense region (“only” 4 to 9 light-years wide), representing an “early stage of massive stars (O-type) emerging from their embryonic molecular clouds.”

24″ (4/5/08 – Magellan Observatory, Australia): this LMC cluster and emission nebula appeared as a bright, very large oval glow, ~3’x2′. Excellent response to a UHC filter at 200x and with this combination the nebulosity has a very high surface brightness. Five stars down to 15th magnitude are involved unfiltered with mag 12.7-magnitude Sk -71°51, an unusually hot and intrinsically bright star (O2-class), at the center. The cluster is the OB-association LH 110.

Notes: John Herschel discovered NGC 2103 = h2968 on 23 Dec 1834 and recorded “pB; L; pmE; gradually little brighter middle; has a *13m in the middle.” His position is accurate.