16″ at 228x: SL 566 appears as a pretty bright, round glow, 30′ in diameter, with a large core surrounded by a considerably fainter, and thin halo. No stars are resolved.

16″ at 228x: This young globular cluster appears bright, round, ~1.5′ in diameter. It has a large brighter core, 50″ in diameter, and its halo is considerably fainter and somewhat granular around the edges, but no stars are resolved. Mag 7.6 HD 37899 lies 12′ NW.

16″ at 228x: NGC 2038 appears bright, just slightly off-round but not enough to be considered elongated, 35″ in diameter. It has a very faint, narrow halo. No stars are resolved. It forms an attractive triangle with mag 9.5 HD 37732 which lies 4′ NNW, and mag 10.1 HD 269799 which lies 5.4′ NE.

16″ at 228x: Located just north of superbubble N154’s NW end, and 3′ NNW of NGC 2048, this cluster appears as a fairly bright, round glow, 20′ in diameter, smooth and even. No stars are resolved.

16″ at 228x: NGC 2051 appears as a fairly bright, round, even glow, 30″ in diameter. No stars are resolved. It forms a pretty triangle with mag 9 HD 37798 which lies 8′ NW, and mag 7.6 HD 37899 which lies 8′ SW.

16″ at 228x: NGC 2056 appears bright, round, 50″ in diameter, with a large bright core and fainter, and beautifully hazy halo. No stars are resolved. The cluster lies within an equilateral triangle: mag 11.2 HD 269836 lies 2.5′ N, mag 10.5 HD 269825 lies 3.6′ SSW, and mag 9.3 HD 38174 lies 4.6′ ESE (and also almost halfway between NGC 2056 and big, bright NGC 2075).

16″ at 228x: SL 617 is the cluster on the lower right (SL 624 is the one in the centre of the image). They form an uneven 3.4′ pair, with SL 617 being the fainter and smaller of the two. It appears as a very faint, round haze, ~20′ in diameter. Mag 11.8 HD 269853 lies 1.8′ NE.

16″ at 228x: This was one of those little objects in the LMC one doesn’t notice until you’re searching for another small and faint nearby object… in this case the low excitation blob, N156, which lies 2.8′ NE. The cluster appears faint, round, ~ 15″-20″ in diameter, and with no stars resolved.

16″ at 228x + UHC filter: Without a filter, NGC 2052 appears as a faint, round, even haze, ~40″ in diameter, with very amorphous edges that simply fade out. Two small ~15+ stars are resolved in the glow. It has a pretty good response to the UHC filter, appearing very subtly uneven and with slightly more defined edges. It lies midway between a mag 12 star 2′ W and a mag 12.5 star 2′ ENE.

16″ at 228x: SL 621 is very faint, ~12″, elongated NE-SW, and very narrow, not much more than a tiny slash of a glow.

16″ at 228x: SL 622 is an exceedingly faint cluster, a small and narrow glow, ~15″ in diameter.

16″ at 228x: SL 624 is the brighter cluster in the centre of the image. The cluster to the lower right is SL 617, with whom SL 624 makes a nice uneven 3.4′ pair. SL 624 is the brighter and bigger of the two, appearing as a fairly faint, even, round glow, ~20″ in diameter. No stars are resolved. Mag 11.8 HD 269853 lies 1.9′ SW.

16″ at 228x + UHC Filter: This little LEB lies right off the western side of the incredible supergiant shell, LMC 2. Without a filter, the little blob appears as a small, faint, oval… well… blob, 20″ in diameter, elongated NE-SW. It has a good response to the filter, appearing as a more concentrated blob, smooth and even and with crisp edges. It lies in a field that is swirling with faint nebulosity.

16″ at 228x: A lovely bright cluster embedded in the soft, faint glow of N213’s nebulosity; the cluster is bright, oddly triangular-shaped, ~40″ in diameter. It brightens to the centre. No stars are resolved. Without a filter, the nebulosity appears faint and an odd triangular-shape, with edges that fade quite gradually. It has a strong response to the filter, its triangular shape very obvious, the nebulosity is somewhat uneven, and the edges fade rapidly.

16″ at 228x: SL 636 is bright, off-round, 35″ in diameter; a smooth and even glow with no stars resolved. The very small cluster, BSDL 2680, lies off the southwest edge and appears as a small and fainter glow attached to the otherwise roundness of SL 636.

16″ at 228x: H60b 5 appears fairly faint, round, 30″ in diameter, and with no stars resolved. Mag 8.6 HD 38728 lies 6′ SSE.

16″ at 228x + UHC Filter: This faint, round glow, with a mag 14 star lying dead centre looks like a quintessential Milky Way planetary nebula! It certainly requires the use of the filter, appearing ~1′ in diameter, a faint, smooth, round glow with edges that fade rapidly into the surrounding sky. Mag 9.1 HD 38706 lies 4′ E, and two mag 11 stars lie 1.8′ NW and 1.2′ NE of this pretty star.

16″ at 228x: H60b 6 is a lovely little cluster. It appears bright, round, 40″ in diameter, with a thin and considerably fainter halo. No stars are resolved.

16″ at 228x: NGC 2107 appears bright, round, 50″ in diameter, with a large core and a very thin and fainter, hazy halo. No stars are resolved. A few mag 12 and 13 stars lie sprinkled around the cluster.shed. On 10 Feb 1885 he reobserved the field and also discovered S-L 692.

16″ at 228x: Discovered by Pietro Baracchi on 11 Dec 1884, using the Great Melbourne Telescope, this little cluster is exceeding faint and small, nothing more than a small, dim, 10″ haze.

16″ at 228x: BRHT 40b = SL 692 was discovered by Pietro Baracchi on 10 Feb 1885, using the Great Melbourne Telescope. It is the brighter and larger of the binary pair, but even so it is a very faint and somewhat irregular glow, ~20″ in diameter. SL 691 is exceedingly faint and small, a mere dim dab of pale light.

216″ at 28x: NGC 2111 appears fairly bright, irregular, 40″ in diameter. The brighter core is slightly elongated E-W; the narrow halo is considerably fainter. No stars are resolved. Companion BRHT 21b appears as nothing more than a very faint, stellar droplet of dimmest light.

Nicholas Sanduleak (1933-1990) was an American astronomer who published a catalogue of stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud (1970) which included the progenitor of the Cloud’s famous 1987 supernova… blue supergiant Sk -69 202. He has a star in the Cloud named after him; it’s a peculiar symbiotic star that produces the largest stellar jet known thus far. Alas for being a very faint mag 17.0 because it’s beautifully positioned for an easy star hop to it! It lies just slightly east of centre of the triangle formed by NGC 2111, 2103 (N214C), 2121 – and almost centre between a pair of ~mag 6 stars that lie 4′ NNE and 3.6′ SSW of it. I hope a big Dobs owner take a squizz at Sanduleak’s star…

16″ at 228x: SL 707 appears as a very faint and diffuse glow, ~20″ in diameter. It forms a mag 13 star lying 1.8′ SE and a ~mag 14-14.5 star lying 1.7′ SW.

16″ at 228x: In 2008 the 8-meter Gemini Telescope captured this spectacular image of the unusual, huge, double-lobed SNR. Peanut-shaped DEM L316 appears to be a single objec tremendous detail, but inspection of the image as well as data taken by the orbiting Chandra X-Ray Observatory indicate the smaller shell (A = SNR J0547-6941) appears to be the result of Type Ia supernova (a white dwarf exploded), while the larger shell (B = SNR J0547-6942) appears to be the result of a Type II supernova (a massive star exploded). Considering these two stellar types evolve on vastly different time scales, there is little chance they came from the same system when they exploded. Thus, while the  image makes it look like the two bubbles are colliding, they only seem to be close together in the sky because of a chance alignment in our line of sight.

What an object to observe! And therein lay the disappointment; the gorgeous and fascinating pair of supernova remnants are vanishingly faint. Fortuitously, three stars help indicate one is looking in the right place. Mag 9.2 HD 39674, mag 11.9 HD 270116, and mag 12.5 PV 1451. Observing it on a night of supreme transparency, and using the OIII filter, I wasn’t expecting to see anything at all, so words cannot convey the sense of wonder I felt when I saw a ghost of a tendril on the southwest side of the larger remnant; a small, wraith-like tendril so pale that it was almost translucent against the background. And in the way of so many incredibly faint nebulae, I couldn’t make out where it simply dissolved into the sky on its edges. 

It was fascinating to compare this observation with that of superbly bright N49, and get some idea of a visual timeline of supernova remnant dissolution.

16″ at 228x: NGC 2118 appears bright, round, 40″ in diameter, with a large and beautifully bright core and a thin and fainter halo. No stars are resolved.

16″ at 228x + UHC Filter: N179 consists of four components: the brightest and largest, N179A with the very much smaller B component 54″ N, and the C and D components visible on the image to the northwest and east of B, respectively. The only component I could pick up with certainty was N179A, which appeared very faint, round, ~20″ in diameter with soft edges that fade away. I tried for B with averted vision, but couldn’t pick it up.

16″ at 228x: This young globular cluster appears bright, just off round, 1.5′ in diameter with a smoothly hazy appearance throughout. A couple of mag 16 stars are resolved right on the very edges. 

16″ at 228x: SL 734 appears as a fairly bright, round glow, 25″ in diameter, with no stars resolved.

16″ at 228x: SL 747 appears fairly faint, round, 25″ in diameter with no stars resolved. In the image one can see the glow of emission galaxy, GH 9-1, lying 40″ SW from the cluster’s centre. Alas, it is too faint for my telescope; I wonder if anyone with a big dob can pick it up? (And yes, indeed, Steve did! You can see his observation on his link at the top of the page.)

16″ at 228x: SL 748 appears as a faint, irregular glow, 25″ in diameter. A mag 13 star lies 1′E.

16″ at 228x: NGC 2125 appears faint, roundish, 30″ in diameter.  No stars are resolved except a mag 14.5-15 star on its northeast edge, a mag 15.7 star on its southwest end, and a mag 16 star on its northwest edge. It forms an attractive triangle with NGC 2127 lying 7.5′ NNE, and the double cluster NGC 2136/2137 lying 11′ E.

16″ at 228x: A lovely double!

16″ at 228x: NGC 2127 appears very bright, round, 30″ in diameter, smooth and even throughout. A mag 14.5 star is resolved at the south edge. The cluster forms an attractive triangle with NGC 2125 lying 7.5′ SSW and the fabulous binary globular cluster NGC 2136/2137 lying 12′ SE.

16″ at 228x: NGC 2133 appears fairly bright, 40″ in diameter, with a large brighter core, and a thin, hazy halo. No stars are resolved. It forms a pair NGC 2134 which lies 5.2′ NNE. They look remarkably similar except NGC 2134 is the larger and brighter version.

16″ at 228x: SL 756 lies just 1.3′ from mag 8.3 HD 40277, which interferes with the observation, rendering the cluster a very small, very faint, round washed-out glow.

16″ at 228x: NGC 2134 appears bright, round, 1′ in diameter, with a large bright core and a thin, fainter halo. No stars are resolved. It forms a pair with NGC 2133 lying 5.2′ SSW, and the two look remarkably similar, except NGC 2133 is the smaller and fainter version.

16″ at 228x: SL 763 appears as a fairly faint, round glow, 30″ in diameter.

16″ at 228x: It is a unique and striking sight to see the only known binary globular cluster! I confess that globular clusters are probably, over all, my favourite objects, so a beautiful binary pair is simply fabulous; never mind that it’s in another galaxy! At 228x, the pair are superb, and beautifully framed in a triangle of a mag 10.8 star NNW, a mag 12 star SSW and a mag 13 star NE. NGC 2136 is very bright, round, ~1′ in diameter, with a large, bright core. A number of mag 14.5+ stars are resolved in the halo. A mag 13.5 star lies on the northwest edge and a mag 14 star on the south edge.

Fainter and smaller NGC 1937 lies a mere 1.4′ NE of NGC 2136 and it is fairly faint, round, ~20″ in diameter, with a smooth brightness. No stars are resolved. The two clusters form a nice triangle with NGC 2125 lying 11′ W and NGC 2127 lying 11.5′ NW.

16″ at 228x: SL 769 appears as a faint, slightly oval-shaped glow, 40″ in diameter, elongated E-W. A mag 13 star is resolved on the east side.

16″ at 228x: SL 770 appears faint, stellar. It lies 3.3′ NE of mag 10.1 HD 270261, which acted as a handy guide to pinpoint the minute, dim cluster.

16″ at 228x: SL 774 appears as an exceedingly faint and exceedingly small glow; averted vision helped. Mag 10.2 HD 270261 lies 3.4′ SW.

16″ at 228x: NGC 2145 appears fairly bright, round, 35″ in diameter, with a very slight brightening to the centre. A mag 14 star is resolved at the southeast edge. A mag 11.7 star lies 50″ SSW.

16″ at 228x: This background galaxy appears as a  faint oval, 30″ x 18″, smooth and even with no central brightening. The galaxy lies 9′ SW of mag 8.0 HD 41158.

16″ at 228x: H60b 9 appears as a faint, round glow, 35″ in diameter, brightening slightly to the centre. No stars are resolved. Mag 8.9 HD 41050 liwa 3.8′ NE, and the star itself has mag 10.9 HD 270327 lying 1.6′ ENE.

16″ at 228x: NGC 2151 appears relatively faint, round, 30″ in diameter. A mag 14 star is resolved on its northeast edge. It lies just east of a pretty triangle of stars, composed of mag 11.7 HD 270350 lying 2.9′ NNW, mag 11.6 HD 270329 lying 5.3 WNW, and mag 10.7 HD 270337 lying 3.8′ WSW.

16″ at 228x: SL 797 appears as a faint, quasi stellar glow, surrounded by a hint of a very faint and thin haze. Mag 11.8 HD 270338 lies 1.4′ NW.

16″ at 228x: A gorgeous and eye-catching young globular! It appears very bright, round, ~1.2′ diameter. It has a very bright, large core and a superb gritty halo in which a few mag 15.5-16 stars are resolved. A mag 11.4 star lies 1.4′ WNW of centre.