Observation by Dr Paul Leyland: Six GCs in NGC 253

Uploaded by

Dr Paul Leyland

Observer

Dr Paul Leyland

Observed

2020 Oct 20 - 22:00

Uploaded

2023 Oct 17 - 17:04

Objects

The Sculptor Galaxy (NGC253)

Equipment
  • 0.4m Dilworth Relay
  • SX 814 CCD camera
  • No filter
Exposure

1560 seconds

Location

Tacande Observatory, MPC J22

Target name

Globular clusters in NGC 253

Title

Six GCs in NGC 253

About this image

NGC 253 is a starburst galaxy in Sculptor and lies 11.4 ± 0.7 Mly away --- well outside the Local Group. Like most large spirals it has a retinue of globular clusters, a fair number of which are within range of amateurs. The image above is a "first-look"; it doesn't cover the whole galaxy and it has been processed to show the GCs at the periphery. Consequently many of the catalogued objects are either washed out or outside the FOV.

Six confirmed globular clusters (out of a total of 82) are marked. I didn't check for candidate clusters. From the top, they are numbered 148, 146, 139, 109, 168 and 99 in table 3 of A VST and VISTA study of globular clusters in NGC253. by  Cantiello et al., Astron. Astrophys. 611, A21 (2018). Their g magnitudes are given as 20.98, 21.00, 20.53, 21.12, 20.32 and 20.43 respectively.

I intend to image the rest of the field at a later date and to see whether clever image processing can reveal clusters currently hidden in the light from the galaxy. Longer exposures should turn up fainter objects as well. The tabulated magnitudes range from 18.43 (number 144 in Table 3) to 23.12 (number 204).

 

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