NGC/IC Project Restoration Effort

===== NGC 6820 is a small knot of nebulosity, roughly 1' x 1', perhaps a reflection nebula around a few young stars or pre-stellar objects. It is specifically NOT the much larger HII region Sharpless 2-86 as has been many times been claimed, nor is it the cluster Colinder 404 = OCl 122, though that may represent the stars involved with the nebula. Marth's original observation with Lassell's 48-inch reflector mentions only the nebulosity: "F, S, R, bM". Steve Waldee has an extensive discussion of this on his web site: http://freescruz.com/~4cygni/faintfuzzies.blogspot.com/quandary-near-dumbbell.html See that for more on the confusion about this NGC number.

===== NGC 6820 17.5" (8/10/91): at 100x using OIII filter, open cluster NGC 6823 is immersed in a faint nebulosity. Also extends 5'-10' SW from the core of the cluster to a group of stars that wasn't included in the description of NGC 6823. The observation above refers to Sh 2-86, the usual identification of NGC 6820. But based on Marth's position and description, NGC 6820 more likely refers to a compact knot to the southwest of the cluster at this position. At 220x, it appeared as a small, 20" knot surrounding a faint stellar or quasi-stellar core. Interestingly, this object dimmed with OIII, UHC and H-beta, so it's likely a reflection nebula that is detached from the main mass of nebulosity to the northeast. 13.1" (8/15/82): cluster NGC 6823 is encased in nebulosity (Sh 2-86) using a filter and averted vision. Very difficult to identify the nebulosity unfiltered. 8" (10/4/80): Sh 2-86 extremely faint nebulosity in field of NGC 6823. Involves four stars in the north and two stars in the south side.