Sky & Telescope - August 2024 - 59

2.0′ × 1.4′ in size, is a north-south oval.
The latter, 0.8′ × 0.7′, is a smudge a bit
west of two extremely faint suns. South
of the row-of-three is 13.4-magnitude
PGC 64910, flanked by 14th-magnitude
stars above and below. Officially
1.7′ × 1.4′, the face-on barred spiral is
a decent specimen, yet only its central
bulge shows.
Into the Group
Now I return to 69 Aquilae where I
embark on an L-shaped star-hop covering
2° × 3°. The route trends eastward
to 4.9-magnitude 70 Aquilae, then
Targets En Route
Object
PGC 64318
NGC 6900
NGC 6915
NGC 6922
PGC 64812
PGC 64864
PGC 64880
NGC 6926
NGC 6929
PGC 64910
Surf. Brightness
12.5
12.6
12.4
13.7
12.6
13.7
-
13.3
12.8
14.2
turns northward. I nudge the scope past
4.3-magnitude 71 Aquilae, cross into
Aquarius, and stop at 5.2-magnitude
1 Aquarii. After that, I push 2° eastward
to the NGC 6962 Group.
Anchoring the six-part set is
12.1-magnitude NGC 6962, a 2.9′ ×
2.2′ oval glow oriented east-northeast
by west-southwest. This " big " galaxy is
flanked by 15th-magnitude suns east
and west. Less than 2′ to the southeast
is 13.0-magnitude NGC 6964. Its 1.7′
× 1.3′ shape is aligned north-south and
is attended southeastward by a 14thmagnitude
star. A line from NGC 6964
back through NGC 6962, extended 3′
northwestward, approaches 13.7-magnitude
NGC 6961. An unimpressive 0.6′
× 0.5′ blur, NGC 6961 is designed for
averted vision even in my 18-inch!
Three galaxies form a broad triangle
about 7′ north of the anchor
galaxy NGC 6962. The best of them is
13.1-magnitude NGC 6967. Measuring
0.9′ × 0.6′, NGC 6967 is elongated
east-west, its eastern end close to a
10.9-magnitude star. Veteran observer
and S&T Contributing Editor Steve
Gottlieb, who has been observing this
group for decades, notes that NGC 6967
is incorrectly listed in some catalogs as
NGC 6965, and I've noticed the same
wrong labeling in atlases.
Nudging the scope 6½′ west of
Mag(v)
13.4
13.5
12.2
13.5
14.8
14.0
13.9
12.4
13.4
13.4
RA
20h 13.9m
20h 21.6m
20h 27.8m
20h 29.9m
20h 29.8m
20h 31.0m
20h 31.5m
20h 33.1m
20h 33.4m
20h 32.3m
For both tables: Right ascension and declination are for equinox 2000.0.
Dec.
-01° 09′
-02° 34′
-03° 05′
-02° 11′
-02° 02′
-01° 56′
-01° 58′
-02° 02′
-02° 02′
-02° 15′
NGC 6967 nails 13.7-magnitude
NGC 6959. Possessing dimensions of
0.6′ × 0.3′, NGC 6959 is just a hazy
northeast-southwest ellipse. But
wait - it's accompanied westward by
14.8-magnitude PGC 162626, a similar
0.6′ × 0.4′ haze. The two hearty hazes
cooperate with a 12.8-magnitude star to
make a 1½′-wide triangle. A short row
of three dim dots slants south of it. I'm
knocked out.
Establishing the group's northern
+2°
AQUARIUS
6962
1
0°
θ
66
4
3
5
6
7
8
9
20h 50m
20h 40m
71
PGC 64880
6926
6929
PGC 64910
6922
70
69
6915
68
-4°
20h 30m
20h 20m
20h 10m
CELESTIAL BORDER TOWN The NGC 6962 Group is a community of galaxies located in westernmost
Aquarius, next to Aquila. Star-hopping from Theta Aquilae passes many faint galaxies.
PGC 64864
South 749
PGC 64812
Σ2661
6900
PGC 64318
-2°
AQUILA
point is the " real " NGC 6965. Again,
averted vision is needed to consistently
reveal this 14.0-magnitude, 0.6′
× 0.4′ patch. In addition to the mixup
mentioned earlier, NGC 6965 is often
charted and cataloged as NGC 6963.
Gottlieb has commented that the
misidentification originated in a faulty
observatory bulletin more than a
century ago. Worse, the 1885 discovery
position for the phantom NGC 6963
corresponds to an insignificant binary
star 1.5′ north of NGC 6965. There's no
galaxy there - only the double star.
The group contains one other
double-trouble target: Halfway between
NGC 6962 and NGC 6967 is a blurry
binary that was erroneously cataloged
as a galaxy and assigned the label
NGC 6966. Observing from California,
Steve has resolved the extremely faint
pair in an 18-inch reflector at 323×. His
determined success remains an " unresolved "
challenge for me.
sk yand tele scope .o r g * AUGUST 2024 59
Star magnitudes
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Sky & Telescope - August 2024

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