Observing report 23 February 2018.

Clear skies presented late on Friday night 23rd February 2018.

All my targets from tonight are from the Crux constellation with one re-observation of a cluster in Musca without moonlight interfering.

I set out the toys just before 10PM and putzed around for a while as the scope cooled and my eyes got a chance to dark adapt. Some of the targets have been seen before under the moon's baleful glare so I was keen to have another look once the moon had gone down.
After 11PM the moon had all but disappeared and I managed a few hours of observing before the clouds took back control by 2AM.

So here is my journey in and around Crux.

Orion XT8.
9/15/25mm EP's used.
Had a very windy day which died down in the evening leaving the seeing somewhat poor and yet the transparency fared better. NGC 5139 presented as a pin prick of light naked eye while most stars in the lower regions had a nice twinkle.


NGC 4755(Jewel box cluster), Open cluster in Crux, Mag +4.19

Might as well start with the famous jewel box cluster.
Keep in mind my descriptions are as seen in the eyepiece, so that will be flipped and upside down.
There are six prominent stars at mag 5(+-) that form a V shape with a bright red star DU Crucis in the center of the V. There is a nice grouping of stars to the left of this V that start to blend in with the V shape. A very bright and large cluster of stars of all colours and hue's creating that "jewel box" look.

NGC 4349, Open cluster in Crux, Mag +7.40

This was one cluster that benifits from a moonless sky.
Even then I had to ramp up the magnification and found six very dim stars in the 9mm EP, averted vision helped improve the view.
A tough find.

HARVARD 5, Open cluster in Crux, Mag +7.09

This looks to my eye to be a upside down T which is tilted over to the left.
I count seven stars here and it takes magnification well revealing a few dimmer members.

I found this interesting info on the Harvard catalog of stars.
The Catalog contain 21 entries compiled by American astronomer Harlow Shapley(1885-1972) in 1930.
Roughly half the objects already carry a NGC or Trumpler designation and the remainder were not listed in any prior catalogs.
NGC 4439, Open cluster in Crux. Mag +8.39

I see 6 stars forming a semi circle that is open at the bottom with one star in the center of the would be circle.
This is another very dim object that may not be seen under a moonlit sky, to dig this one out I used the 9mm EP.

Hogg 14, Open cluster in Crux, Mag +9.50

This was a tough one to crack, took me a while to nail down the three stars I could see, two with direct vision and the third swimming into view with averted vision using the 9mm Ep again.
I would not recommend finding this guy with the moon holding sway over the skies!

Trumpler 20, Open cluster in Crux. Mag +10.0
I see three groups of scalene triangles, these guys are ultra dim at mag 10 and takes some doing to find them.
Not much to see but worth the hunt and getting it logged.
Not one that I would have noticed as a cluster to be honest.

NGC 4337, Open cluster in Crux. Mag +8.89

How this qualified as a cluster I will never know!
I see two ultra dim stars. fortunately this was a easy star hop from Gacrux so no waste of effort there, anyhow it's logged and best forgotten.

NGC 4463, Open cluster in Musca, Mag +7.19

I see a nice triangle of stars here with the addition two bright stars, one on the inside of the triangle and the other on the outside.
Not an unpleasant view.

NGC 4609, Open cluster in Crux, Mag +6.90

Here we see one bright star with a more compact collection of 6 six stars that remind me of a bow tie shape.
Nice and compact cluster that easily sticks out from it's surroundings and is recognizable as a "classic" cluster.


Hogg 15, Open cluster in Crux, Mag +10.3

All I can find is one single star just above NGC 4609, how this qualifies as a cluster goes beyond me!
Still it's logged and never to be returned to.

NGC 4103, open cluster in Crux, Mag+7.40

Here I see a elongated and back to front Z shape of stars.
The slant in the Z contains three stars, the upper arm also sports three while the bottom arm boast four stars.
A nice tight cluster.



And that folks is that.
Thank you for taking the time to read or follow along.
Wishing you all clear skies and happy hunting!