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NGC 6664 (15,246 of 18,816)

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NGC 6664

NGC 6664, Cl Collinder 385, C 1834-082, Ocl 68, VIII 12, h 3754, GC 4426

RA: 18h 36m 33.3s
Dec: −08° 13′ 15″

Con: Scutum
Ch: MSA:1319, U2:295, SA:16

Ref: SIMBAD, Collinder (1931), NGC/IC, Archinal&Hynes (2003)

(reference key)

Type: open cluster, 32m

Mag: B=8.81, V=7.8

Size: 16′
PA: ?

Historical observations

William Herschel (c.1784)

Synonyms: H VIII-012

Discovered in 1785 by William Herschel with an 18.7-inch f/13 speculum telescope. He called it "a cluster of very coarse, scattered stars."

John Herschel (1847) Cape Observations

Observed by Sir John Herschel at the Cape of Good Hope with an 18-inch f/13 speculum telescope. He recorded it as "a cluster of large stars. It is the commencement of the bright milky way, which here comes on suddenbly in its main body."

Published comments

Trumpler, R.J. (1928)

Trumpler (Lick Obs Bul, Vol 14, No. 420) gives the diameter as 20' and the class as 4 2 m.

Sulentic & Tifft (1973)

The RNGC (Sulentic and Tifft 1973) notes that this is a 9.0 mag open cluster.

Raab, S. (1922)

Raab, S. (1922) A research on open clusters. Lund Medd. Astron. Obs. Ser. II, 28, 1.

Discussed, based of F-A plates.

Vorontsov-Velyaminov, B. (1925/1926)

Vorontsov-Velyaminov, B. "Integral magnitudes of south star clusters", Astron. Nach. 228, 325. Comparing the brightness of the cluster with the extrafocal images of stars, he estimates the magnitudes as 8.28

Photo index

Photo Index by Jim Lucyk: Burnhams V3 p1757.

Melotte, P.J. (1915)

A catalogue of star clusters shown on Franklin-Adams chart plates. Mem.R.A.S., 60(5), 175-186.

Modern observations

Tom Lorenzin

Tom Lorenzin, in the e-version of "1000+ The Amateur Astronomers' Field Guide to Deep Sky Observing", notes: "9M; 18' diameter; large and sparse; 25-plus 10M and dimmer members; 20' E of 4M Alpha SCT."

Steve Coe

Steve Coe, observing with a 17.5" f/4.5 at 100X, notes: "Pretty bright, pretty large, pretty rich, somewhat compressed and has 15 pretty bright stars with a sprinkling of dimmer members at 100X. Just barely seen in finder.

Brian Skiff

Arp: 21' E of alpha Sct. *s in knot V>14.

POSS: N-S knot 9' N of alpha Sct.

7x35mm - on E side of alpha Sct is losfcbr circ patch. unres. rel consp due

to dk surround. BS, 29Apr1992, TSP.

7cm - in dk region W of Sct *cloud. scattered grp res @ 30x w/o haziness. 50x

shows 20 *s rel unconcen in oval region elong E-W. stragglers to S.

BS, 23Jun1996, Mars Hill.

8cm - lg cloud next to alpha Sct @ 20x. partially res. BS, 13Sep1982, Anderson

Mesa.

15cm - fairly dim cl of 20 *s in 10' area, m10+. BS, 28Mar1971, FtL.

- apparent, dull. 15 *s in W shape. HM.

- 95x shows 35 *s in 25' diam, brtr *s to N side. next to alpha Sct. BS,

15Mar1981, Anderson Mesa.

- E of alpha Sct. 15' diam w/poor concen of *s. brtst m10.5-11, then few

except vf ones. some grainy haziness @ 80x, but this goes away @ 140x.

50 *s counted. stray outliers to S. about 5' N of alpha Sct is little

knot of vf *s that might be interesting in lgr aperture. BS, 22Jun1990,

Anderson Mesa.

25cm - lg, widespread, E of alpha Sct. 40' diam, 40 *s. on N is sm nebula.

- 25' diam, unconcen, brtr *s to N side. *s fntr than m10. 125x shows at

least 60, maybe 75 *s. somewhat elong N-S. BS, 15Mar1981, Anderson Mesa.

30cm - 149x. sm neb from 25cm is grp of 7-8 *s. 20' diam, elong E-W. on W is

string of ten *s going S 15'. 35 *s. CBL, Roof.

Contemporary observations

Auke Slotegraaf

1985

As seen with a 15.5-inch at 220X, this open cluster lies in the same field as Alpha Scu. It is a large spread-out cluster with a dozen or so dominant members, which form a staggered pattern across the cluster. About twice that number of fainter stars are sprinkled amongst them, giving this well spread out cluster a pleasing appearance.

1995 June 01

1995-06-01: 11x80. Kelsey Farm. 23:00 SAST. Due east of Alpha Scu. This is a large puff of light. Surprisingly large. Unevenly concentrated patch of light, brighter on the north-east side. Looks like a wildly off-centre globular cluster. Picked up while star hopping to Alpha Scu.

1997 July 06

1997 July 6, Sunday, 21:00 - 23:00 Jonkershoek. 11x80's tripod-mounted. Lies within a neat triangle of alpha, delta and epsilon Scu. Alpha lies due west. Beautiful! A soft glow, round, upon a murky field. A delicate object, surprisingly large, like percolated starlight, a slightly condensed milky-way star-patch. Nudging the field 2degrees west brings ona massive lightless void, over 3 degrees long.

1997 July 08

1997 July 8, Tuesday, 20:55 - 23:30 Jonkershoek. 11x80's tripod-mounted. Obscure cluster near alpha Scu. Looks like a low surface brightness globular lcuster, or a slightly condensed part of the milky way.

Magda Streicher

13 June 2008

NGC: 6664 – SCUTUM

Open Cluster

RA: 18h36m37s - DEC: -07°48'50" - Magnitude: 7.8 - Size: 16'

Tel: 16" S/C – 102x - 127x - 290x - Date: 13 June 2008 - Site: Pburg - Good

Just 33' from alpa Scutii this cluster displays a faint grouping in an elongated NE-SW direction. To me the stars appears like a figure-outline.

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