NGC/IC Project Restoration Effort

===== NGC 2081. This is a star cloud in the LMC, surrounded by a large annular nebula. It looks like a classic HII-star forming region, with the gas blown out of the cluster by the light of the bright, young stars. See NGC 2050 for more on JH's observations that led to this object.

===== NGC 2081 24" (4/10/08 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): At 214x, this is a gorgeous star cloud consisting of two dozen stars in a 5' region (stellar association LH 104 dominated by B-class supergiants), including many mag 13-14 stars as well as mag 12.2 star HD 38489 (an extreme luminous blue variable!) on the northeast side. Adding a UHC filter enhances a fairly bright HII glow that nearly surrounds the entire cluster in a triangular wreath (weak in the center)! The brightest portion is a ribbon with a bright region (identified in SIMBAD as BSDL 2722) at one end just south of the cluster and extending due east. With closer inspection BSDL 2722 actually consists of a couple of knots and fainter streaks intersecting! Just beyond the east end of this ribbon is NGC 2091, a slightly elongated cluster that is collinear with the streamer. HDE 269936, a mag 11 "star" (found to be an extremely compact cluster) is just off the SW side and NGC 2074, a bright HII region and cluster (part of the same complex LMC-N158), lies 8' SW.