Astronomical Catalogs

compiled by Leroy W.L. Guatney

Globular Clusters

Omega Centauri


Courtesy of the AAO, used with permission
© Anglo-Australian Observatory
Photograph by David Malin
I hold Honorary Messier Certificate #404 for observing all 110 objects cataloged, completed in 1978.

I began logging observations of the Herschel 400 objects on 27 February 2000. My official announcement of this undertaking was made via e-mail to members of the Denver Astronomical Society on March 13, 2000, in honor of the two hundred nineteenth aniversary of Sir William Herschel's discovery of Georgium Sidus (Uranus). I logged the 400th object on May 19, 2002, and received certificate #246 of the Herschel Club on July 1st, 2002.

My OBSERVE: The Herschel Objects is ©1985 Lydel Guzman, Brenda Branchett, and Paul Jones; published by the Astronomical League.

This has been an excellent exercise in organization.

As Globular Clusters are my favorite Deep-Sky Objects, I intend to observe as many as possible. (Actually, GCs are #1A on my list, and Open Clusters are #1B, even though many more can be seen year-round.) Indeed I have observed all of those in the Messier catalog using either the Tycho Brahe (Criterion Dynascope 8" Newtonian) telescope or the Edward E. Barnard (Criterion Dynamax 8" SC) telescope. I have already observed a few in the Herschel 400 list using the William Parsons (Meade 10" LX5 SC) telescope. Having recently received the Urbain J.J. Le Verrier (Meade 12" LX200 SC) telescope, I immediately noticed that the extra five centimeters of aperture allow for the resolution of stars in NGC-5466. For this reason, I am only logging observations of globulars with the 30-centimeter telescope.

The one exception remains: the observations of Omega Centauri. This was a special expedition of the Mobile Science Station of the Uranibourg West Observatory. The expedition was for the official first light ceremony of the William Parsons telescope. Update: I have now observed Omega Centauri with the 30-centimeter Le Verrier telescope. I was guest to the Empire Ranch dark-sky site of the TAAA outside of Tuscon, AZ., the latest expedition of the Mobile Science Station of the Uranibourg West Observatory. Now every Globular Cluster I have observed has been seen through the Le Verrier telescope.

M-13 was the official first light ceremony of the Urbain J.J. Le Verrier telescope.

Rules

(a do-it-yourself Globular Observing "Club")

  1. Observe ALL (or as many as you prefer) Globular Clusters to declination 90 minus the absolute value of your latitude, swapping the sign of your latitude from your hemisphere (southern hemisphere is "negative" latitude for these purposes), and omitting those with a magnitude fainter than the limiting magnitude of the chosen aperture (below)

    • for example, my latitude is N 40 (at home): 90 - 40 = 50 => -50° is my southern declination limit for this project

    • if you have the means and the time, take a vacation trip further south (or north) to make one or more objects worthwhile viewing (I did, visiting Kitt Peak National Observatories, and viewing and photographing Omega Centauri, G-1, while there)

    • there are 189 Globular Clusters on the list below, and two that appeared in Uranometria 2000.0, 1st ed. but, one is an Open Cluster, and the other had its discovery retracted

  2. Use the SAME aperture (recommended 6" = 15 cm. minimum) and magnification range throughout the project

  3. Keep a list, NUMBERING the objects with either a G or the first letter of your last name (you may want to avoid M or other letters that may lead to later confusion), in the ORDER that you observe them

  4. Record, the Date, Time, Location, Magnification(s), Aperture used, as well as notes on the seeing conditions at the time; make compare and contrast statements in your notes about the object with an earlier object(s) you have observed in this project

  5. Determine the S-S-G (Shapley-Sawyer-Guatney) Type of the cluster (as used and defined below)

  6. Locate one reference used by my Primary/Secondary Sources below, or any suitable paper on Globular Clusters which appeared in any refereed journal; read it; write a one page summary of what you think the importance of the paper is

  7. If you have the means to do so, place your list on the WEB

  8. There is NO printed certificate for this observing project, unless you desire to print one

  9. You qualify for the GOLDEN GLOBULAR club if your field trip for an extreme southern (or northern if you have a positive declination limit) cluster is executed near a Major Observatory, or an Astronomical League National Convention

  10. You qualify for the HISTORICAL GLOBULAR club if you observe your first thirty-three globulars in order of their discovery.

  11. The HISTORICAL GOLDEN GLOBULAR is both of the above, i.e. a Golden Globular done in Historical order.

Progress:
Globulars 120 and counting
Goal 145±

Guide to the Tables Below

Dull Red Constellation/Names are fainter than magnitude 15.0

Yellow Constellation/Names are -50° Declination or below

Green NGC numbers are "overlooked objects"

Blue IC numbers are Index Catalog objects

Names are from the Observer's Handbook, "overlooked", or common sources

Loc Code Location
AZ Arizona, Sierrita Mountain between Tucson and Kitt Peak
BY Backyard, Aurora, CO.
CH Chamberlin Observatory, Denver, CO.
DP Daniels Park, Douglas County, CO.
DS DAS Dark Site, Arapahoe County, CO.
DW Dugout Wells, Big Bend N.P., Texas
EL Elkhorn Ranch, Park County, CO.
EO Everhart Observatory, Bailey, CO.
ER Arizona, SE of Tucson, TAAA's Empire Ranch Dark Site
MP Mineral Park, Littleton, CO.
MS Missile Site, Arapahoe County, CO.
OL Outdoor Laboratory, Jefferson County, CO.
SP Backyard, Spokane, WA.
SS Rocky Mountain Star Stare (by observation year)
UB Upper Bear Meadows, Rocky Mountain N.P., CO.
Loc Codes which are links, take you to the notes for that object

Development

Having been only on the very fringes of Astronomy for roughly ten of the past eleven years, getting back into my first hobby, I am glad to see a lot of progress having been made on the study of Globular Clusters. I still have more reading/research of my own to do, but my list is fairly complete as far as its intended content.

Apparently, a few Milky Way GCs have never received Shapley-Sawyer classifications. Of the six NGC GCs without concentration classes, four were originally classified as Open Clusters. In fact, the NGC 2000.0 browser still lists NGC 6540 as an Open Cluster. I was pleased to find that two of the estimates of concentration classes I had made from my own observations were in perfect agreement with sources I discovered later.

The list below shows yellow constellation/Names for those too far south for my location. Similarly, dull red constellation/Names indicate those clusters whose total magnitudes are too faint for my 30-centimeter telescope. I have now observed NGC 6749 and Palomar 13; two quite faint globular clusters. Their total magnitudes are 12.4 and 13.8 respectively. I may have to revise the limiting magnitude rule on the Observing Club above. Update: I have observed Palomar 14 which is magnitude 14.7 it was quite faint, but still detectable as a very faint “smudge” in the eyepiece. As I always do with the faintest of the faint, I check the DSS images to confirm the field stars I observed. Again updated: I had a fairly exceptional night at RMNP Upper Bear Meadows, and I have supplied an estimate of Palomar 14's concentration class below. Also, the same night, I was able to find G73 in NGC 205 (M 110) at magnitude 15.0 is now the faintest globular observed to date.

I plan to make the list below more useable to observer's with other than 30-centimeter telescopes. I need to provide the necessary hints for limiting magnitudes for 6"-11" telescopes.

I want to add a breakdown by Constellation for Globular Clusters.

Finally, I will also provide the declinations for those objects below my declination limit of -50°.

References

Primary and Secondary Sources:

Brian A. Skiff (three files: globular.tab, globular.ref, and lmc.tab), William E. Harris (html), Atlas of Deep Sky Splendors, Fourth Edition, Hans Vehrenberg, and Observing Handbook and Catalogue of Deep-Sky Objects, 1989, paperback ed. 1998, Luginbuhl & Skiff.

Brian Skiff has been very helpful with general discussions about the history and evolution of our understanding of Globular Clusters, the nature of lists of these clusters, and the maintenance of same.

After digesting a lot of information, I found some data, some good links, and a lot of useful background information on the SEDS web site.

I gave a talk to the Northern Colorado Astronomical Society (NCAS) on 07/05/2001, and here are my notes with some Q&A added. I gave the same talk on 08/01/2001 to the Aurora Astronomical Association (A-cubed), with a few clarifications, updates, and additional material that I had not added to the NCAS lecture.

Information

Milky Way Globulars

Harris' list was originally published in 1996, and was last revised in June, 1999. In it, he attributes 147 Globular Clusters to the Milky Way. He indicates that some candidates may be questionable, and since that time, three more candidates have been confirmed, and four are associated with the SagDEG (Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy), lowering the total number of observed Milky Way Globulars to 146. Forty-two external GCs appear on my list (six in Fornax (Fornax Dwarf), four in Sagittarius (SagDEG), thirty in Andromeda (M-31/M-110), and two in Triangulum (M-33)).

Just to be clear, I don't count the SagDEG Globulars as Milky Way for simple taxonomic convenience. While they are most likely gravitationally bound to the Milky Way, it is also quite apparent that they are gravitationally bound to another Galaxy, as are those in the Magellanic Clouds. Thus is the distinction between Far Halo objects, and a number of nearby External clusters. I recently read Henbest & Couper's The Guide to the Galaxy where Paul Hodge is cited as having said:
'Dogs have fleas, but fleas don't have fleas', as Hodge puts it. 'Thus, Fornax must be a true galaxy, as its six fleas testify.'
I think the same reasoning applies to SagDEG as well.

Given our position in the plane of the Milky Way, there are likely more which remain obscured by galactic dust, or the Hub itself. There may be more Far Halo objects like NGC-2419, which are smaller and fainter, and have thus far escaped detection. Given the concentration of GCs around the Hub of our galaxy, some estimate the Milky Way may actually harbor 200 of these unique deep sky objects. (In 1996, Harris cited the estimate at 140-180.)

At present, only the Globular in the Small Magellanic Cloud has been included in this list. Those in the Large Magellanic Cloud will be sorted out later.

Types (S-S-G):

Vehrenberg uses a classification system by Harlow Shapley and Helen Battles Sawyer Hogg from the latter's work on 125 Globular Clusters (1963). The Roman numerals from I to XII indicate diminishing cluster concentration. I found more of these classifications at the Messier45 List Generator web site. Their Shapley-Sawyer classes are due either to the Sawyer Hogg paper mentioned above, or perhaps from another seminal paper of 132 Globulars that appeared later by G. Alcaino (1977). Like SEDS, I have used the label Shapley-Sawyer instead of Shapley-Hogg. I presume this is due to their paper having been published before Sawyer married Hogg. I have suffixed the Shapley-Sawyer system using a "Milky Way"-centric approach of my own devising:
b Hub Globulars
o Halo Globulars
r Far Halo Globulars
m Magellanic Globulars
x External Globulars
(none) Unknown/No Classification
My extension is purely one of astrographic reference, and is not intended to be anything more than that. The Night Sky Observer's Guide describes some spectrographic differences between Halo and Bulge Globular Clusters. My interest is in the distribution of globulars around the Milky Way.

Since I have access to the Shapley-Sawyer classification system only through Vehrenberg, those I have supplied from my own observations appear in Light Blue. My research paper for the above Observing Club's purposes will be finding the H. B. S. Hogg paper that Vehrenberg mentions.

Lifetime Observations:

Before I had completed the observations of Globular Clusters previously recorded with older instruments, I had kept track of a lifetime count of GCs, as well as the current count under this observation program. This is no longer needed as I can now claim that all logged GCs have been seen with the 30-cm. telescope. Also, my observing notes are a mixture of recollections and actual observing notes I have maintained for various A.L. observing clubs I have participated in. These notes are accessible below as links from the Loc Codes in the table below. Update: The discovery of 1988 observing logs for my trip to Sierrita Mountain, AZ, had resulted in two more GCs that had only been observed with my 25-cm. telescope, which I was unable to re-observe on my Christmas 2000 trip back to Tucson at Empire Ranch, have now been made with the 30-cm. telescope. I picked these additions up from Big Bend National Park, TX, at the end of winter for 2000-2001.

Observing Strategy:

The observing programs I have undertaken until now, have always emphasized the use of different eyepieces, gradually working up from lower to higher magnifications. As you can tell from the observations I have made below, I started to use a single eyepiece consistently — my 25mm (122X) König MK-70 eyepiece. This eyepiece adequately covers the ranges of the smallest to the largest of Globulars.

The benefit I have seen to using a single eyepiece, a globular eyepiece if you will, is that when I look at a new GC, I can immediately tell its relative size to other globulars. You can also get a feel for relative degree of resolution of the clusters. This effect is further reinforced by the fact that all I have been observing lately, with a few exceptions, are Globular Clusters. This has been my first truly homogeneous observing program.

If you only prefer to observe the Messier Globular Clusters, at least observe these three NGCs.

Abbreviations:

NGC - New General Catalogue
IC - Index Catalogue
M - Messier Catalogue
H - Herschel 400 List
Lac - Lacaille's Catalogue of Nebulae of the Southern Sky
AM - Arp & Madore
Arp - Arp & Van den Bergh
Cr - Collinder
E - ESO Blue Plates
ESO - European Southern Observatory
Fornax - Fornax Dwarf Galaxy
GCL - Catalogue of Star Clusters and Associations
Lund - Catalogue of Open Cluster Data (5th ed.), Lund Observatory
Ton - Tonantzintla
vdB-Ha - Van den Bergh-Hagen
AM-1 = E 1 = ESO 201-SC10
E 3 = ESO 37-SC1
UKS 1 = UKS 1751-241


Introduction | Part I: Winter | Part II: Early Spring | Part III: Late Spring | Part IV: Mid-Summer | Part V: Late Summer | Part VI: Fall | Addendum A: Miscellaneous | Addendum G: Globular Clusters | Addendum S: Southern Extents | Solar System

Addendum G: Globular Clusters
NGC/IC Other Catalog Number G Type Constellation/Name Logged Magnification Loc
104 Lac 1-I   IIIo 47 Tucanae
121 — —   m Tucana SMC
— G1 in M-31 73 x Andromeda 2000.09.20 122X MS
— G35   x Andromeda      
— G52   x Andromeda      
— G64   x Andromeda      
— G72   x Andromeda      
— G73 115 x Andromeda (M-110) 2001.07.28 179x UB
— G76   x Andromeda      
— G78   x Andromeda      
— G87   x Andromeda      
— G96   x Andromeda      
— G119   x Andromeda      
— G156   x Andromeda      
— G172   x Andromeda      
— G205   x Andromeda      
— G213   x Andromeda      
— G222   x Andromeda      
— G226   x Andromeda      
— G229   x Andromeda      
— G230   x Andromeda      
— G233   x Andromeda      
— G244   x Andromeda      
— G254   x Andromeda      
— G257   x Andromeda      
— G272   x Andromeda      
— G279   x Andromeda      
— G280   x Andromeda      
— G286   x Andromeda      
— G302   x Andromeda      
— G305   x Andromeda      
— G315   x Andromeda      
288 H 20-VI 33 Xo Sculptor 2000.08.27 122X MS
362 Dunlop 62   IIIo Tucana
— U49 in M-33   x Triangulum
— C39   x Triangulum
— Fornax 1   x Fornax
— Fornax 2 118 x Fornax 2001.12.08 98X DS
1049 Fornax 3 84 II-IVx Fornax 2000.09.26 122X DS
— Fornax 4 117 IVx Fornax 2001.12.08 98X DS
— Fornax 5 116 IIIx Fornax 2001.12.08 98X DS
— Fornax 6 119 x Fornax 2001.12.08 98X DS
1261 GCL 5   IIr Horologium
— Palomar 1   XIIr Cepheus      
— AM-1   r Horologium
— Eridanus Cluster   r Eridanus      
— Palomar 2   IXr Auriga      
1851 Dunlop 508 86 IIr Columba 2000.09.26 122X DS
1904 M 79 85 Vr Lepus 2000.09.26 122X DS
2298 GCL 11 89 VIr Puppis 2000.12.26 122X ER
2419 H 218-I 83 IIr Lynx 2000.09.26 122X BY
— Pyxis Cluster 93 IV-VIr Pyxis 2000.12.26 122X ER
2808 GCL 13   Io Carina
— E 3   o Chamaeleon
— UKS 0923-545     Vela Open Cluster
— Palomar 3   XIIr Sextans      
3201 Dunlop 445 90 Xo Vela 2000.12.26 122X ER
— Palomar 4 101 XIIr Ursa Major 2001.03.23 122X DS
4147 H 19-I 88 VIr Coma Berenices 2000.12.26 122X ER
4372 GCL 19   XIIo Musca
— Ruprecht 106   r Centaurus
4590 M 68 87 Xo Hydra 2000.12.26 122X ER
4833 Lac 4-I   VIIIo Musca
5024 M 53 41 Vr Coma Berenices 2000.08.30 122X MS
5053 Cr 267 74 XIr Coma Berenices 2000.09.25 122X DS
5139 Lac 5-I 1 VIIIo Omega Centauri 2000.12.26 122X ER
5272 M 3 5 VIo Canes Venatici 2000.07.22 122X DS
5286 Dunlop 388 94 Vo Centaurus 2001.03.19 122x DW
— AM-4   r Hydra
5466 H 9-VI 7 XI-XII(XII)r Boötes 2000.07.22 122X DS
5634 H 70-I 91 IVr Virgo 2000.12.26 122X ER
5694 H 196-II 92 VIIr Hydra 2000.12.26 122X ER
4499 GCL 30   XIr Apus
5824 NGC 5834 95 Ir Lupus 2001.03.19 122x DW
— Palomar 5 81 XIIr Serpens Caput 2000.09.25 122X DS
5897 H 19/8-VI 75 XIo Libra 2000.09.25 122X DS
5904 M 5 40 Vo Serpens Caput 2000.08.30 122X MS
5927 GCL 35 96 VIIIb Lupus 2001.03.19 122x DW
5946 4550 97 IXo Norma 2001.03.19 122x DW
— vdB-Ha 176   o Norma
5986 Dunlop 552 100 VIIb Lupus 2001.03.23 54X/122X DS
— Lynga 7   b Norma
— Palomar 14 82 VIII-Xr Hercules 2000.09.25 122X DS
6093 M 80 34 IIb Scorpius 2000.08.30 122X MS
6101 GCL 40   Xo Apus
6121 M 4 6 IXo Scorpius 2000.07.22 122X DS
6139 GCL 43 98 IIb Scorpius 2001.03.19 122x DW
6144 H 10-VI 8 XIb Scorpius 2000.07.22 122X DS
— Terzan 3 106 b Scorpius 2001.06.17 179X MS
6171 M 107 37 Xb Ophiuchus 2000.08.30 122X MS
— ESO 452-SC11 105 b Scorpius 2001.06.17 179X MS
6205 M 13 2 Vo Hercules Cluster 2000.07.17 55X/122X BY
6218 M 12 4 IXb Ophiuchus 2000.07.21 87X/122X MS
6229 H 50-IV 42 IVr Hercules 2000.08.30 122X MS
6235 H 584-II 59 Xb Ophiuchus 2000.09.20 122X MS
6254 M 10 3 VIIb Ophiuchus 2000.07.21 87X/122X MS
6256 vdB-Ha 208 76 b Scorpius 2000.09.25 122X DS
— Palomar 15 104 r Ophiuchus 2001.06.17 179X MS
6266 M 62 38 IVb Ophiuchus 2000.08.30 122X MS
6273 M 19 39 VIIIb Ophiuchus 2000.08.30 122X MS
6284 H 11-VI 47 IXo Ophiuchus 2000.08.30 122X MS
6287 H 195-II 45 VIIb Ophiuchus 2000.08.30 122X MS
6293 H 12-VI 46 IVb Ophiuchus 2000.08.30 122X MS
6304 H 147-I 60 VIb Ophiuchus 2000.09.20 122X MS
6316 H 45-I 61 IIIb Ophiuchus 2000.09.20 122X MS
6325 GCL 58 43 IVb Ophiuchus 2000.08.30 122X MS
6333 M 9 20 VIIIb Ophiuchus 2000.08.26 55X/122X MS
6341 M 92 12 IVo Hercules 2000.08.06 122X DS
6342 H 149-I 62 IVb Ophiuchus 2000.09.20 122X MS
6352 Cr 328 99 XIb Ara 2001.03.19 122x DW
6355 H 46-I 63 b Ophiuchus 2000.09.20 122X MS
6356 H 48-I 56 IIo Ophiuchus 2000.09.03 122X DS
1257 Lund 751 79 Vr Ophiuchus 2000.09.25 122X DS
— Terzan 2 110 IXb Scorpius 2001.06.17 179X MS
6362 Dunlop 225   Xo Ara
6366 GCL 65 55 XIo Ophiuchus 2000.09.03 122X DS
— Terzan 4   b Scorpius
— Haute-Provence 1 103 b Ophiuchus 2001.06.17 122X MS
— Grindlay 1     Scorpius non-existent
— Liller 1   b Scorpius
6380 Ton 1 77 b Scorpius 2000.09.25 122X DS
— Terzan 1   b Scorpius
— Ton 2 107 VII-IXb Scorpius 2001.06.17 179X MS
6388 GCL 70 58 IIIb Scorpius 2000.09.20 122X MS
6397 Lac 13-III   IXo Ara
6401 H 44-I 64 VIIIb Ophiuchus 2000.09.20 122X MS
6402 M 14 27 VIIIb Ophiuchus 2000.08.27 122X MS
— Palomar 6 112 XIb Ophiuchus 2001.06.17 179X MS
6426 H 587-II 65 IXo Ophiuchus 2000.09.20 122X MS
— Djorgovski 1 109 b Scorpius 2001.06.17 179X MS
— Terzan 5   b Sagittarius      
6440 H 150-I 53 Vb Sagittarius 2000.09.03 122X DS
6441 GCL 78 35 IIIb Scorpius 2000.08.30 122X MS
— Terzan 6 108 VIII-Xb Scorpius 2001.06.17 179X MS
6453 GCL 79 36 IVb Scorpius 2000.08.30 122X MS
— UKS 1   b Sagittarius
6496 GCL 80 78 XIIb Scorpius 2000.09.25 122X DS
— Terzan 9   b Sagittarius      
— ESO 456-SC38 111 IX-XIb Scorpius 2001.06.17 179X MS
6517 H 199-II 54 IVb Ophiuchus 2000.09.03 122X DS
— Terzan 10   b Sagittarius      
6522 H 49-I 66 VIb Sagittarius 2000.09.20 122X MS
6528 H 200-II 67 Vb Sagittarius 2000.09.20 122X MS
6535 GCL 83 28 XIb Serpens Cauda 2000.08.27 122X MS
6539 GCL 85 29 Xb Serpens Cauda 2000.08.27 122X MS
6540 Djorgovski 3 52 b Sagittarius (H) 2000.09.03 122X DS
6541 Dunlop 473 44 IIIb Corona Australis 2000.08.30 122X MS
— 2MASS-GC 1   b Sagittarius      
6544 H 197-II 51 IXo Sagittarius 2000.09.03 122X DS
— ESO 280-SC06   b? Ara      
6553 H 12-IV 50 XIb Sagittarius 2000.09.03 122X DS
— 2MASS-GC 2   b Sagittarius      
6558 Melotte 194 68 b Sagittarius 2000.09.20 122X MS
1276 Palomar 7 80 XIIb Serpens Cauda 2000.09.25 122X DS
— Terzan 11   b Sagittarius
6569 H 201-II 69 VIIIb Sagittarius 2000.09.20 122X MS
6584 Dunlop 376   VIIIo Telescopium
6624 H 50-I 70 VIb Sagittarius 2000.09.20 122X MS
6626 M 28 21 IVb Sagittarius 2000.08.26 55X/122X MS
6637 M 69 23 Vb Sagittarius 2000.08.26 122X MS
6638 H 51-I 49 VIb Sagittarius 2000.09.03 122X DS
6642 H 205-II 48 IVb Sagittarius 2000.09.03 122X DS
6652 GCL 98 71 VIb Sagittarius 2000.09.20 122X MS
6656 M 22 9 VIIb Sagittarius 2000.07.30 122X DS
— Palomar 8 120 Xo Sagittarius 2002.06.16 98X/179X EL
6681 M 70 22 Vb Sagittarius 2000.08.26 122X MS
6712 H 47-I 32 IXb Scutum 2000.08.27 122X MS
6715 M 54 24 IIIx Sagittarius DEG 2000.08.26 122X MS
6717 Palomar 9 102 VIIIb Sagittarius 2001.03.23 122X DS
6723 Dunlop 573 72 VIIb Sagittarius 2000.09.20 122X MS
6749 Berkeley 42 57 XI-XIIo Aquila 2000.08.27 122X MS
6752 Dunlop 295   VIo Pavo
6760 Melotte 219 30 IXb Aquila 2000.08.27 122X MS
6779 M 56 13 Xo Lyra 2000.08.06 122X DS
— Terzan 7   x Sagittarius DEG      
— Palomar 10 114 XIIo Sagitta 2001.07.28 179x UB
— Arp 2   x Sagittarius DEG      
6809 M 55 25 XIb Sagittarius 2000.08.26 122X MS
— Terzan 8   x Sagittarius DEG      
— Palomar 11 113 IX-XI(XI)o Aquila 2001.07.28 179x UB
6838 M 71 14 X-XIo Sagitta 2000.08.06 122X DS
6864 M 75 26 Io Sagittarius 2000.08.26 122X MS
6934 H 103-I 15 VIIIo Delphinus 2000.08.06 122X DS
6981 M 72 18 IXo Aquarius 2000.08.06 122X DS
7006 H 52-I 11 Ir Delphinus 2000.08.06 122X DS
7078 M 15 16 IVo Pegasus 2000.08.06 122X DS
7089 M 2 17 IIo Aquarius 2000.08.06 122X DS
7099 M 30 10 Vo Capricornus 2000.07.30 122X DS
— Palomar 12   XIIr Capricornus      
— Palomar 13 19 XI-XII(XII)r Pegasus 2000.08.06 122X DS
7492 Melotte 242 31 XIIr Aquarius 2000.08.27 122X MS

Globular Notes

(note "independent" in this context are those not associated with a Milky Way satellite galaxy)

M-3
first Messier object discovered by Messier was a Globular
M-4
Globular nearest to Earth
M-13
first Globular I ever saw
M-22
brightest Messier Globular; first Globular discovered
M-53/79
tied for most distant independent Milky Way Messier Globular
M-54
only extragalactic (i.e. associated with a Milky Way satellite galaxy) Globular on Messier's list
M-72
faintest Messier Globular
M-79
first Globular I logged for Messier Certificate #404
NGC-121
only Globular known to be associated with the Small Magellanic Cloud
NGC-1049
faintest NGC Globular
NGC-2419
most distant independent Milky Way NGC Globular
NGC-5139 (Omega Centauri)
brightest Milky Way Globular
NGC-6522/6528
the [visual] double Globular Cluster in Sagittarius
AM-1
most distant known independent Milky Way Globular
G1
brightest Globular in the Local Group;
most distant Globular I have observed;
my first extragalactic Globular (if you don't count M-54)
G73
faintest Globular I have observed to date;
my second extragalactic Globular
Palomar 5
also known as the Serpens Dwarf (spheroidal galaxy)
Palomar 12
also known as the Capricornus Dwarf (spheroidal galaxy)
Palomar 14
faintest Globular I have observed observed for a concentration class estimate
UKS 1
faintest known Milky Way Globular
UGC-9799
Galaxy with the most (48,000 ± 16,000) Globular clusters

Catalogue counts
  • Messier, 29
  • Herschel 400 list, 34
  • New General Catalogue, 105 (inclusive of the above, excludes Magellanics)
  • Index Catalogue, 3
  • other, 75

Discovery order (first 33)
  • M-22, Ihle, 1665 (Hevelius?)
  • Omega Centauri, Halley, 1677
  • M-5, Kirch, 1702
  • M-13, Halley, 1714
  • M-71, de Cheseaux, 1745-1746
  • M-4, de Cheseaux, 1745-1746
  • M-15, Maraldi, Sep 7, 1746
  • M-2, Maraldi, Sep 11, 1746
  • 47 Tucanae, Lacaille, 1751
  • NGC-4833, Lacaille, 1751-1752
  • M-69, Lacaille, 1752
  • M-55, Lacaille, 1752
  • NGC-6397, Lacaille, 1752
  • M-3, Messier, May 3, 1764
  • M-9, Messier, May 28, 1764
  • M-10, Messier, May 29, 1764
  • M-12, Messier, May 30, 1764
  • M-14, Messier, Jun 1, 1764
  • M-19, Messier, Jun 5, 1764
  • M-28, Messier, Jul 27, 1764
  • M-30, Messier, Aug 3, 1764
  • M-62, Messier, Jun 7, 1771
  • M-53, Bode, Feb 3, 1775
  • M-92, Bode, Dec 31, 1777
  • M-54, Messier, Jul 24, 1778
  • M-56, Messier, Jan 19, 1779
  • M-68, Mechain, Apr 9, 1780
  • M-75, Mechain, Aug 27, 1780
  • M-72, Mechain, Aug 30, 1780
  • M-70, Messier, Aug 31, 1780
  • M-79, Mechain, Oct 26, 1780
  • M-80, Messier, Jan 4, 1781
  • M-107, Mechain, Apr, 1782

many people have visited my pages since my web-site moved on 10/9/1999.

Copyright © 2000-2002, Leroy W.L. Guatney.
Last Update: 12 November 2002.

Up to the Science Fact Page.
Back to Leroy's Astronomy Section. Leroy's Observatory is his Home!