NGC/IC Project Restoration Effort

===== NGC 2546. JH found this cluster in three sweeps. His first position is representative of the entire cluster, very close to a position plucked from the DSS2R image. His other two positions point at the northeastern end of the cluster. Unfortunately, ESO put this number on a much larger, scattered group of stars, and made the position 45 seconds of time further east and 10 arcmin south. If this is indeed the center of a larger cluster, then NGC 2546 is just a small part of it.

===== NGC 2546 13.1" (1/30/06 - Costa Rica): this very large, bright scattered cluster was just visible to the naked eye close south of a brighter, hazy naked-eye patch of unresolved stars. The field is beautifully rich, at least 45' diameter though there was no distinct border. The star field looks impressive beyond the edges of the 66' field of the 20 Nagler. On the northwest side is a rich, elongated strip of ~20 stars that is quite eye-catching. Includes a few pairs and a neat triple with a fairly close unequal mag pair at the SSW end of the elongated strip. 13.1" (2/18/04 - Costa Rica): this cluster is a very bright, scattered field of stars that completely fills the nearly 40' field at 105x. Partially resolved in the 9x50 finder. At the NW edge is a rich elongated strip of two dozen stars including a couple of close, unequal pairs and tight fainter triple. John Herschel's description applies to this denser group of stars. A mag 6.4 star (h4051 = HD 68450) with two mag 13.5 companions is off the NW side of the larger group but does not appear to be part of the cluster and a similar star lies to the SE (HD 68862). 13.1" (1/18/85): ~75 stars, bright, very large, scattered, overfills 30' field. 8" (3/28/81): ~25 stars, rich, elongated. At the edge of a large, scattered field of stars.