NGC/IC Project Restoration Effort

===== NGC 6440 24" (8/14/15): at 375x; bright, relatively small globular, sharply concentrated with a very bright core and a much fainter, well-defined circular halo, roughly 2' across. The core is mottled and very granular but unresolved. NGC 6440 is collinear with an 11' string of four mag 11-12 stars extending from NW to SE, barely fitting in the field, with the closest star 1.7' NNW of center. At 500x, a few extremely faint stars were resolved in the halo. The bright core contains a handful of resolved stars (mag 16.5 or fainter) that pop in and out of view over the extremely granular background. NGC 6440 is a highly obscured, metal-rich globular at a low galactic latitude, so resolution is quite difficult. 17.5" (7/14/99): this globular forms an unusual pair with planetary NGC 6445 just 21' NNE and is situated within a string of four mag 11-12 stars oriented NW-SE. It appears fairly faint, round, at least 2' diameter. At 280x the diffuse halo increases to a moderately bright, round core. Although the globular appears granular, there was no resolution is good seeing except for a very faint star that was intermittently visible off the north edge of the core. 13" (6/29/84): moderately bright, small, broadly concentrated to a brighter core, no resolution. Forms a striking pair with planetary NGC 6445 20' NNE. Brightest member stars are only V =17.