NGC/IC Project Restoration Effort

===== NGC 6540 18" (7/11/07): this very unusual globular is buried within a small asterism and requires careful viewing. At 325x a very distinctive 1.5' string or shallow arc of stars is oriented E-W and contains 6 stars (these are possible cluster members). Within this shallow arc is a 20" knot just east of the midpoint and this knot is probably the core of the globular. The entire string is superimposed on a rich Milky Way background so it was very difficult to determine a diameter for the outer halo. 17.5" (7/10/99): this interesting globular is located nearly midway along a short 1.5' E-W arc of a half dozen or so mag 13-14 stars that are bowed out to the north. The globular is a faint, round, 40" glow, embedded just inside the center of this string which extends beyond the globular to the west and east. At 100x, this string, along with the haze of the cluster creates the impression the globular is quite elongated. 13" (9/3/83): very faint, small, rich spot, slightly elongated E-W, mottled but no resolved. Also a group of six faint stars in an arc to the SE. Dark nebula B86 lies 41' W. Originally listed as an open cluster, this object was reclassified as a globular in 1987 by Djorgovski.