NGC/IC Project Restoration Effort

===== NGC 6494 18" (8/12/10): stunning bright, rich cluster at 175x with several hundred stars visible in the 35' field with a large number of mag 9-11 stars sprinkled throughout the cluster. Many of the stars are arranged in long chains and loops with a distinctive chain of 5 stars curving NNW to SSE near the center and a longer curve of stars to the southwest. A string of stars heads NW out of the cluster to mag 6.5 HD 163245 outside the field. The stars are fairly evenly distributed with the density gradually thinning towards the edges. Two catalogued double stars are ARA 718 (10.9/12.3 at 5") near the center and ARA 719 (9.8/13.0 at 15") on the SE side. The Milky Way has a bright background glow just west of the cluster. 13.1" (6/29/84): bright, large, rich, appears fully resolved. Very pretty open cluster. 8": bright, fairly large with long star lanes to the edge of the field.