NGC 936

Historical observations

William Herschel (c.1784)

Synonyms: H IV-023

Discovered in 1785 by William Herschel with an 18.7-inch f/13 speculum telescope. He called it "cB, a very bright nucleus with a chevelure of 3 or 4' diameter."

Birr Castle/Lord Rosse

Earl of Rosse, observing with a 72-inch f/8.8 speculum telescope, noted "Nov 29, 1856. pL, B, vbM, R? It seems to have some faint mottled nebulosity about it."

Webb, T.W. (1893)

In the 5th edition of Webb's Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes it is described as "a faint diffused and very hazy object. Another following."

NGC/IC Dreyer (1888, 1895, 1908)

This spiral galaxy is described in the NGC as "very bright, very large, round, much brighter in the middle forming a nucleus, preceding of two". The other object mentioned in NGC 941.

Published comments

Helwan Obs. Bulletin No 9 (1912)

! A Faint ellipse, 3' x 2', with very bright central part lying nearly along its minor axis, this latter part resembling Saturn."

Helwan Obs. Bulletin No 22 (1921)

! 4'x3', E 145deg, vB alm.stell.N.; psi-type spiral with pB cross-arm in PA 80deg and 1.5' long; the extended portion of the nebula is a vF oval disc showing no structure. See HOB 9.

Sulentic & Tifft (1973)

The RNGC (Sulentic and Tifft 1973) notes that this is a 11.0 mag galaxy. Their coded description reads SBO),R,VDIF,SMBM-BAR.

Sandage & Tammann (1975)

Sandage, A. & Tammann, G. A. (1975) Steps toward the Hubble constant. V - The Hubble constant from nearby galaxies and the regularity of the local velocity field. ApJ, 196, 313-328. [1975ApJ...196..313S]

(1975, Astrophysical Journal, 196, 313-328) includes this galaxy in the NGC 1068 Group. Members include NGC 936, NGC 1055, NGC 1068, NGC 1073, NGC 1084 & NGC 1087.

de Vaucouleurs, G. (1975) Cetus I Cloud

de Vaucouleurs, G. (1975) Nearby groups of galaxies. In: Kuiper, G. (ed) Stars and Stellar Systems. Volume 9: Galaxies and the Universe. Chapter 14, p557.

Includes NGC 1052 and NGC 1068 groups.

Brightest members: NGC 1068 ( B(0) = 9.81), NGC 936 ( B(0) =11.28 ), NGC 1084 ( B(0) = 11.38), NGC 1087 ( B(0) = 11.74), NGC 1055 ( B(0) = 11.77).

("Galaxies and the Universe", Chapter 14 - Nearby Groups of Galaxies) notes that the five brightest members of the Cetus I group are NGC 1068, NGC 936, NGC 1084, NGC 1087 & NGC 1055.

Modern observations

Doig, P. (1925)

Doig, P. (1925) Notes on the nebulae and clusters in Webb's 'Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes' (Sixth edition, Vol.ii). Part I. M.N.R.A.S., 35(5), 159.

Ancient City Astron.Club (1980)

Listed by the Herschel Club, described as "circular, starlike nucleus, bright, fuzzy and fading outwards, situated in a line of field stars. 6-inch, 48x."

Hartung, E.J. (1968) Astron.Obj.South.Tel

Hartung notes that a 12-inch telescope "shows a round bright symmetrical object like an unresolved globular cluster of concentrated type about 1.5' across but evidently considerably larger at the edges fade away gradually. The central part is clear in a four-inch. About 13' following is another round but very faint nebula, NGC 941."

Burnham's Celestial Handbook

Burnham calls it a 11.3 mag barred spiral in Cetus, 3' x 2', "very bright, very large, slightly elongated, much brighter in the middle to a nucleus. Has a thick central bar, large faint outer halo. NGC 941 following 12'."

Walter Scott Houston

Houston notes that this is a good subject for small instruments, and in larger ones resembles the Saturn nebula.

Tom Lorenzin

Tom Lorenzin, in the electronic version of "1000+ The Amateur Astronomers' Field Guide to Deep Sky Observing", notes: "11.3M; 3'x 2' extent; berred spiral with prominent bar; SP GAL N941 (12.9M; 2'x 1' extent) 12' to E; 13M SP GAL N955 (2'x 0.5' extent) very, very faint and 45' to E, just 12' W and a little S of bright star (5M) 75 CET."

Steve Coe

Steve Coe, using a 13" f/5.6, notes: "Pretty bright, pretty large, round, much brighter middle. This is a barred spiral, but I could not see any central bar structure. 13" Sentinel 8/10 150X bright, pretty large, much brighter middle, central bar in PA 90 degrees. NGC 941 in field."

Brian Skiff

Lick: pa80.

15cm - 1'.5 diam, roundish. vbr concen core half the total size, ill-def edges.

25cm - vbr. elong E-W w/sm concen 20" core. lgr br area 1' across, fntr halo 3'x2'. cen core seems bulged as though it has three or four tiny lobes.

30cm - fairly br. found as point of `?' *ism of four m8.5 *s. 5' from ?. 1'.5 diam, circ. quite brtr core, no nuc. not much halo, comparatively lg core.

Contemporary observations

Auke Slotegraaf

1984 December 26

1984 December 26, 23:49. PRG, Stellenbosch

At magnitude 11.3 this galaxy is easy in a 15.5-inch telescope at 220x, where is has the same appearance as M 77, only smaller and fainter. The galaxy has a bright core, and its halo is only a vague fringe, being much fainter. With averted vision the galaxy looks like a bright star seen through mist. NGC 936 measures 3' across.

1993 October 11

11/10/1993: Observing with a 6-inch f/8.6 Newtonian at 52x, this globular-like galaxy is easy to spot. On this night, 5th mag Nu Cet was easy with the naked eye (alt approx. 45°).

Tom Bryant

2010 11 13 3:0:9

Observing site: Little Tycho Observatory

Telescope: C-8

[2h 27m 36s, -1° 9' 0"] This one was bright enough to see without telescope movement. Still, a faint smudge aganist the bright, streetlit sky. Would be nice to revist in the C-11 under darks skies. B: SBa.