Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
3x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
APM/TMB 130/780 Refractor

The object Messier 73 (NGC 6994) is an inconspicuous assortment of four stars of 10th to 12th magnitude, situated in the very western part of constellation Aquarius; its nature as a physical group is doubtful. It lies only about 1.5 deg east of globular cluster M72.

Although M73 is apparently consisted of 4 stars, 3 of them being of about 10th to 11th magnitude (Burnham and Kenneth Glyn Jones give A:10.5, B:10.5, and C:11.0), the fourth (D) being of mag 12.0, it is obviously a true Messier object. Charles Messier found it on October 4, 1780, described it as a "Cluster of three or four small stars, which resembles a nebula at first glance, containing very little nebulosity; this cluster is located on the parallel [of declination] of the preceding [M 72]; its position has been determined from the same star [Nu Aquarii]."

For being a mere asterism, and not a DSO, it gets an inordinate amount of attention on the SEDS site.

June 5, 2008