CalStar OR: Part 2 of 2 Scrounging the Shakhbazian Groups

Alvin Huey

Again like my planetary OR, these are pretty rough notes. I do have label designations, and most at MASX J destinations, but decided not to clutter my OR with long designations. I may put up links to labeled DSS images when I have time. Sky conditions are the same as the Planetary Nebulae OR. I generally spend the first half of each night observing the obscure planetaries, then send the rest of the night on Shk groups.

Shk 84 (23 34 38, +07 59 35, 6 galaxies, mag 16.5+, 1.3', Pisces) 22" (306 and 460x) - 2 extremely faint glows detected with averted vision. 2MASX J23343750+0759378 lies just 34" north of 2MASX J23343710+0759048. A 14.2 magnitude star lies 45" SSW from the southern galaxy.

Shk 310 (00 54 52, -03 43 22, 11 galaxies, mag 17.05+, 2.2', Cetus) 22" (306 and 460x) - Three very faint and three extremely faint galaxies detected. The extremely faint members were detected only at 460x. All six galaxies lies in a 2' circle.

Shk 317 (02 10 53, -06 33 33, 7 galaxies, mag 15.2 - 17, 6.1', Cetus) 22" (287 and 460x) - Nice string of galaxies. 6 were immediately seen at 287x. Upon further observation, two more galaxies were detected at the east end, MCG-1-6-64 and 65. At 460x, one more galaxy, which is unlabeled was detected. The six seen, from west to east, were MCG-1-6-57, 58, 59, 60, 61 and an unlabeled. The unlabeled galaxy, which is the brightest of the chain, is closest to the 13.6 mag star and the fifth one from the west.

Shk 81 (21 57 59, -01 44 39, 11 galaxies, mag 17.8+, 1.3', Aquarius) 22" (306 and 460x) - Very faint unresolved clump. It sits closest to the SW star of the equilateral triangle.

Shk 331 (22 25 27, -02 47 25, 7 galaxies,, mag 16.31+, 1.1', Aquarius) 22" (306 and 460x) - 3 very faint galaxies resolved in a very tight group of about 30" long. One very faint galaxy lies 3.1' WNW of the trio. An extremely faint galaxy is 3.8' east of the trio.

Shk 362 (23 32 37, +19 21 34, 5 galaxies, mag unknown, 0.9', Pegasus) 22" (306 and 460x) - 3 very faint resolved members about 45" long. The trio forms an slight arc from west to east. A 10.2 magnitude star lies just 1.7' NW of the trio. Best to keep that off the field.

Shk 270 (02 08 40, -13 57 49, 10 galaxies, mag 16.88+, 4', Cetus) 22" (306 and 460x) - Two very faint and 2 extremely faint members detected at 306x. The pair of vF galaxies are 25" apart and the pair of eF galaxies are 1' apart. A pair of bright 12.9 and 13.5 mag stars lies about 2' west. I kept that off the field at 460x using the TMB SMC and that helped a lot in detecting the eF galaxies.

Shk 279 (04 12 55, -08 27 23, 11 galaxies, mag 16.48+, 3.4', Eridanus) 22" (306 and 460x) - A pair of considerably faint galaxies detected. The south member is slightly brighter than the northern galaxy. About 40" apart.

A couple extra objects observed

Dwingaloo 1 (MAC 0256+5854) (02 56 51.3, +58 54 42, mag 16.5, 2.0x1.0', Cassiopeia) 22" (287 and 460x) - Very faint, even surface brightness elongated (2:1) glow. PA = 120 and the size is about 1x 0.5'. An extremely faint stellar core or star is detected with averted vision at 460x. Forms a nice equilateral triangle with a ~13th mag star to the easy and a very small trapezoid of 13-14 mag stars to the south.

Palomar 13 (23 06 44.4, +12 46 19, mag 13.8, 0.7', Pegasus) 22" (306x) - Very faint, round. Pretty large and about 30" across. A 10.8 magnitude star lies 1.6' east.