Southwest – Chart 2

SW Chart 2

LH OB Associations: –

NGC Objects: NGC 1777, 1956

Southwest Region Chart 2

Steve Gottlieb's observations

NGC 1777 (Open Cluster)

RA 04 55 48.0 Dec -74 17 00 Mag 12.8 Size 2.4′

16″ at 228x: Lying 38′ N of lovely orangey mag 5.5 Eta Mensae, NGC 1777 appears relatively bright, irregular, 1.2′ in diameter, slightly elongated N-S. Very unusually, there is a lovely double, HJ 3722 superimposed on its east side (mag 11.2/11.5 at 31″ separation). The cluster is bracketed by a mag 12.5 star lying 2.2′ SE and and mag 13 star lying 1.7′ NW.

NGC 1777

NGC 1956 (Background Galaxy)

RA 05 19 36.1 Dec -77 43 45 Mag 13.1 Size 1.9′ x 0.8′ SB 13.5 PA 68°

16″ at 228x: To my eye, edge-on galaxies are elegant and enigmatic, and this background galaxy is a lovely edge-on! It is ~1.5′ x 30″, elongated WSW-ENE, with a small, bright, round core surrounded by a much fainter halo; their ends beautifully rounded.

NGC 1956

SL 433 (Open Cluster)

RA 05 22 18.0 Dec -74 36 18 Mag – Size 1.7′ x 1.5′

16″ at 228x: SL 433 appears as a faint, round, very diffuse glow, ~30″ in diameter.

SL 433

IC 2134 (Open Cluster)

RA 05 23 06.0 Dec -75 26 48 Mag 13.9 Size 1.4′

16″ at 228x: IC 2134 appears fairly faint, round, smooth and even, 20″ in diameter, no stars resolved.

IC 2134

SL 576 (Open Cluster)

RA 05 33 13.0 Dec -74 22 06 Mag 13.7 Size 1.6′

16″ at 228x: SL 576 appears as a fairly faint, round glow, 20″ in diameter.

SL 576

IC 2140 (Open Cluster)

RA 05 33 21.0 Dec -75 22 36 Mag 13.5 Size 2.3′

16″ at 228x: IC 2140 appears as a faint, round glow, 1.4′ in diameter, with a slightly grainy appearance, and brightening slightly to the centre. A couple of ~mag 15 stars are resolved around the edges and a mag 14.3 star lies off the east-northeast edge.