NGC/IC Project Restoration Effort

===== NGC 3532 13.1" (2/18/04 - Costa Rica): this amazing naked-eye cluster packs several hundred stars, filling the 20mm Nagler field (74x and 65' field of view) with wall-to-wall stars in a 55'x35' region! The central region is condensed and quite rich with several dense knots consisting of pairs, triples, chains, etc. The brighter stars are extended ~E-W and includes 6th magnitude K2-type star (HD 96544). There is no well-defined edge to this immense cluster although a huge "U" shaped chain of stars extends around the periphery. A neat equal mag equilateral triangle of stars stood out within the central maze of stars. The cluster is quite prominent naked-eye as a 45' cloud just 3¡ ENE of Eta Carina in the NE corner of the rich Carina starcloud and was densely packed with dozens of resolved stars in the 9x50mm finder. Mag 3.9 V382 Carinae (a Delta Cepheid variable not considered a cluster member) is just off the SE side. 18" (7/7/02 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): This spectacular naked-eye and binocular cluster (3¡ ENE of Eta Carina) filled the entire 51' field of the 27mm Panoptic (76x) with several hundred stars mag 7 and fainter resolved. The cluster is unusually elongated ~E-W, perhaps 55'x30' and widening on the following side. The stars are irregularly distributed with many in pairs, small groups, chains and loops. A group of about a dozen stars forms a perfect "S" asterism. Interestingly, there is a lack of dense knots although the entire central region is rich. Many of the stars appear to have a blue or yellowish tint. This is one of the very top open clusters in the sky although it is probably best in a wider field view.