NGC/IC Project Restoration Effort

===== NGC 5139 24" (4/11/08 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): at 200x in excellent seeing, the view was absolutely stunning as the field was packed with thousands of pinpoint stars to the edge of the 30' field! I noted the circular ring of stars near the center mentioned previously, but the large number of brighter, densely packed stars in the core and halo, superimposed on an incredibly rich mat of fainter stars was the real show. The cluster is only broadly concentrated with very large, brighter core ~10' in diameter and the star density thins out very slowly all the way to 35' diameter. 20" (7/08/02 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): at 208x with a 24' field, the cluster overfilled the field with edge to edge stars mag 11.5 and fainter and was a breathtaking sight. Broadly concentrated with large, brighter core of at least 10' in diameter. The core is extremely densely packed with layers of stars. The elongated halo gradually thins but has no definite border out to 30'! This is the largest and brightest globular in the sky (V = 3.7) and an obvious naked-eye blur, but lacks the strong central condensation of NGC 104 = 47 Tucana. 18" (7/10/05 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): although I've mentioned this feature on previous observations I was surprised to be drawn to a 1' circular ring of stars just north of the geometric center which is mainly filled with unresolved glow and appears like a darker "hole" near the center. A second smaller and less distinct 30" ring of stars and darker center is adjacent to the south with the two rings externally tangent in the middle. After the observation I checked John Herschel's description and found these comments on the star rings in the center: "One of these rings, 1.5' in diameter, is so marked as to give the appearance of a comparative darkness like a hole in the centre. My attendant (J.S.) called up, who saw the hole and darkness, and described it as I have done above. On further attention the hole is double, or an oval space crossed by a bridge of stars. Position of axis = 150." 13.1" (2/20/04 - Costa Rica): at 105x in excellent seeing, the view was absolutely breathtaking with wall-to-wall pinpoint stars in the 37' field! There was a clear 3-dimensional effect with the 11.5-12.5 magnitude stars seemingly floating over a dense mat of fainter stars with the streamers in the halo reaching the edges of the field. I don't recall a more impressive view in the 12" from Australia, where the cluster was higher in the sky. 13.1" (2/19/04 - Costa Rica): In very good seeing early in the morning of the 20th, Omega Cen was a mesmerizing sea of a couple of thousand stars at 200x. I set Omega just outside the field and let it drift through the field a few times. The outer halo was an amazingly dense swarm of 12-13th magnitude stars over a background of fainter pinpoints of lights spilling over the edge of the field. Very broadly concentrated to a large, brighter center although there is no well-defined core. 12" (6/29/02 - Bargo, Australia): this was the first object I viewed at Bargo with Les Dalrymple's 12" and was not disappointed. At 140x, it filled 2/3 of the field (over 25') and resolved into perhaps a few thousand stars down to the center. The cluster seemed almost 3-dimensional with a lattice of brighter mag 12 stars superimposed on a dense background layer of mag 13-14 stars. The density was generally uniformly high in the elongated halo except near the edge although the core shows more non-uniformity with a couple of darker patches. 17.5" (3/12/88): very large, very bright, fantastic at 220x with several hundred stars resolved in excellent seeing from east of Mt. Hamilton. Very faintly visible to the naked eye in good conditions near the horizon from northern California. 13.1" (3/24/84): large, mottled disc covered with faint stars, well resolved outer halo. Similar view but even better resolution on 2/23/85. 8" (7/13/91 - Southern Baja): very bright, very large, very broadly concentrated, about 25' diameter, over 100 stars resolved mag 12-13, many in curving streams over the entire disc. Visible naked-eye.