Hickson 16: Galaxy Cluster (Cetus) RA: 02h 09.4m / DEC: -10° 08'.1 Instrument: 18-inch Obsession |
This is one of the brightest Hickson galaxy clusters. Its four members range from 12.1 to 13.1 magnitude in brightness, all within reach of a quality 4-inch instrument under a dark sky. My sketch presents the quartet as they appear in the 18-inch Dob at 199X. The bright star west of center is 9.6 magnitude PPM 211150. A 14th magnitude star shines just 4" to the southeast. About 2'.5 to the north, NGC 833 and NGC 835 stand paired. NGC 833 is the 80" by 40" oval aligned nearly east-west. This 12.7 magnitude spiral is cataloged as Hickson 16B. It features a stellar core region and is flanked to the west by 13th and 14th magnitude stars. NGC 835 (Hickson 16A) stands just off the eastern edge of NGC 833. This 60" by 40" galaxy has an integrated magnitude of 12.1 and also displays a stellaring at the core. NGC 838 (Hickson 16C) lies another 3'.5 to the east. It's smaller at just 45" by 40" and fainter at 13.0 magnitude. As with its brighter siblings to the west, this spiral galaxy features a stellar core. The fourth member of this cluster is NGC 839 (Hickson 16D), which resides 2'.5 southeast from NGC 838. NGC 839 is a 13.1 magnitude peculiar-type galaxy. Its 65" by 20" form is aligned east-west and a 14th magnitude star glows to the northwest. This region of the sky is sparsely populated by stars; fewer than 20 populate my drawing. |
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