NGC/IC Project Restoration Effort

===== NGC 6709 may also be NGC 6724, which see.

===== NGC 6709 18" (8/14/04): excellent open cluster at 115x with roughly 100 stars mag 10-13. Appears triangular, ~20' diameter with an additional loop of stars bowed out to the south attached at the ends of the southern side of the triangle. At the eastern end is a distinctive 22" pair of mag 9.2/9.7 stars (Burnham 1464) oriented SSW-NNE, with the SW star an orange color. A closer 10" pair lies 1' E (h870 = 9.8/11.3 at 12") and forms a quadrilateral with this brighter pair. The stars are irregularly distributed with some vacant regions and there appears to be dust throughout the field, particularly west of the cluster but also intruding into the cluster. A N-S string of a half-dozen stars is on the west side forming one of the bases of the triangle. 17.5" (8/1/86): over 100 stars mag 9-14 resolved in a 15-20' field but not dense. Appears best at 83x-105x. An easy mag 10 double star at 22" separation is at the east side and a close fainter pair follows. Visible in 16x80 finder. 13": fairly large, about 70 stars in cluster, includes some close double stars.