NGC/IC Project Restoration Effort

===== NGC 7031. This is probably a small cluster of fairly bright stars. It was first seen by WH in September 1788 who called it "A cluster of coarsely scattered large stars, not rich, 6' diameter." JH followed on about 40 years later, saying only "A curious scattered cluster of triple stars; RA taken from working list." This second note is curious in itself as the "working list" RA is 45 seconds of time on east of WH's reduced position. But the cluster is so clear from JH comment about triple stars that there can be no mistaking it. It may actually be larger than WH's (and my) estimate of about 6 arcminutes, extending west for about 10 or 12 arcminutes from the group of triples. There appears to be a faint haze of nebulosity over this extended cluster, but the eastern edge is clearly defined by patches of dark nebulosity. This entire extended "cluster" may simply be a rich patch of stars seen through a clear spot in the clouds, so I'm reluctant to say that it really is a cluster. For the record, this 14' x 11' patch is centered at 21 06 39, +50 52.4 (J2000). In any event, this extended star cloud is not the cluster that the Herschels found. The position I've adopted applies to the "cluster of triple stars" that JH noted.

===== NGC 7031 17.5" (8/10/91): at 220x, about two dozen stars mag 11-15 in a 6' diameter. At the east edge is close double star 11.4/11.8 with a third mag 11.5 star close SW. A nice string of stars is along the north side extending NW from the trio including a close double star 12/13 1' N. A mag 11 star is on south side but the rest of the stars are mag 13-15. Not very rich but stands out in a rich field. The cluster is fairly scattered except for this region with brighter stars. At 410x, I used the sequence of magnitudes in Clark's Visual Astronomy to positively identify a faint V = 16.1 star and suspected a V = 16.3 star.