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(IAAC) Obj: NGC 6822, Barnard's Galaxy - Inst: 18" F/4.5 dob-newt
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Observer: Bruce Jensen
Your skills: Intermediate (some years)
Date/time of observation: 8/22/1998, approx. 0500 UT
Location of site: San Antonio Valley, CA (Lat approx. 38 degrees N., Elev 2,000 ft.)
Site classification: Rural
Sky darkness: 8 of 10 <1-10 Scale (10 best)>
Seeing: 8 of 10 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>
Moon presence: None - moon not in sky
Instrument: 18" F/4.5 dob-newt
Magnification: 92x, 145x, 225x
Filter(s): Ultrablock
Object(s): NGC 6822, Barnard's Galaxy
Category: Extragalactic star.
Class: Dwarf Galaxy, irregular w/ apparent bar
Constellation: Sag
Data: mag 8.8 size 15' x 18'
Position: RA 19:44.9 DEC -14:48
Description:
Barnard's Galaxy lies about 10 degrees northeast of the handle of the Sagittarius
teapot. It is a faint dwarf galaxy that accompanies the Milky Way on it's journey
as part of the local group, and is close enough for easy resolution of physical
features such as bright stars and nebulae. At 92x, it showed very faintly but
unmistakeably as a large hazy patch with some elongation to it, about twice as
long as wide. Closer inspection revealed a few areas of haze with more substance
to them, likely H-II regions. Use of 145x and 225x revealed fine-grained mottling
of the haze, with a few bright points of light poking out distinctively. I am not
familiar enough with the object to know if any of these were stars of that nearby
galaxy or not, but the mottling showed that it was indeed more than just a nebula.
Back to 92x, the Ultrablock filter improved contrast on the whole galaxy; more
importantly, it brought out a number of nebulous H-II regions that were nearly
invisible without filtration. Although there are several of these regions, three
were fairly easy when filtered at 145x, with a few more faintly suspected. At 225x
they were more obvious even without a filter, and two dimmer ones became easier.
No individual OB associations of stars were identified. This is a most fascinating
object, worth turning any scope to.
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