NGC/IC Project Restoration Effort

===== NGC 2061 is probably the group of about 20 stars centered near HD 38253, a double star, though others have suggested that JH's object is restricted to just the brighter stars a bit further west. JH's description, from a single CGH observation, should put this idea to rest: "Cluster, 8th class; coarse, loose, and filling the field; stars 10 ... 13 m. Place, that of a double star in a vacant part." This makes it clear that JH's double is indeed the HD star just a minute of time preceding his position. Nevertheless, this does not look like a cluster, though I do not know if that classification has been rigorously studied.

===== NGC 2061 18" (1/15/07): at 115x I was initially attacted by a large, bright trapezoid-shaped asterism of 5 stars with a pair of 9.5-magnitude stars at 35" separation at the NW vertex. The brightest star in the asterism is a mag 7.2 orange star at the NE vertex with an 11th magnitude companion (h3794). But John Herschel was likely referring to an 8' scattering of a couple of dozen mag 13 and fainter stars that lie to the north of the bright star. This group appears to be a random collection at the eyepiece.