NGC/IC Project Restoration Effort

===== NGC 4349 is a large, rich cluster embedded in the plane of the Milky Way. JH has three observations of it; in one, he makes it 10 arcmin across and puts the position northwest of a 9-10th magnitude star. For the other two, he says it "fills the field", and he gives the position of that bright star, but notes that is indeed southeast of the center. I've estimated the center to be two arcmin north of that star, and see it as an elliptical cluster of stars, 16 arcmin by 11 arcmin, elongated in PA = 135 degrees. This seems to be more or less what JH was describing. Whether it is a real cluster needs to be determined by a careful study of the stars in the area. My guess is that the core really is a cluster, but that many of the stars in the outskirts are just random field stars.

===== NGC 4349 13.1" (2/20/04 - Costa Rica): at 105x, ~150 stars are resolved in a 15' field. This cluster is rich and uniform in magnitudes except for a single mag 8.4 star (HD 107944) on the SE side which stands out over the large number of mag 10.5-12.5 stars. The outline is elongated NW to SE but the stars are distributed fairly evenly within the boundaries. This is a very pleasing group and an easy binocular object. Located along the western side of the Southern Cross and 75' NNW of Alpha Crucis (Acrux)!