NGC/IC Project Restoration Effort

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NGC540

 

Basic Information


Location and Magnitude


Right Ascension: 1:27:8.8
Declination: -20:2:12
Constellation: CET
Visual Magnitude: 14.5

Historic Information


Discoverer: Leavenworth
Year of discovery: 1885
Discovery aperture: 26.3

Observational


Summary description: vF, vS, R, sbMN
Sub-type: SB0

Corwin's Notes

===== NGC 540 is one of the 170 or so nebulae found at Leander McCormick in the mid-1880s to have a sketch. Unfortunately, the sketch shows only one star in addition to the nebula. However, that field is fairly well matched by ESO 542- G012 1 minute and 50 seconds east and about 5 arcmin south. I've taken that as a tentative identification for N540. See NGC 412 for another LM nebula with a sketch that did not work out so well.

Steve's Notes

===== NGC 540 17.5" (10/4/97): extremely faint and small, round. Only glimpsed at moments at 280x using GSC finder chart but several times appeared virtually stellar. On two occasions a 20" halo was visible (too faint to determine elongation but extended 2:1 N-S on DSS). A mag 14 star lies 1.3' due north.