Observations of NGC6703

These are the observations available for NGC6703. If you have any of your own that you'd like to submit we'd love to put them on the website.

• Observations the June and July Galaxies of the Month

  The skies were pretty good – about mag 5.7. I used the Mewlon 300 and 17mm Ethos (x210) for the sketches.

  First off was June’s Galaxy of the Month; NGC 6702/3 in Lyra.

  

  NGC 6702 was about twice as faint as NGC 6703 which had an obvious core and outer halo. Hint of core/outer halo in NGC 6702.

  Next was July’s Galaxy of the Month; NGC 6901/6 but I didn’t realise until too late that NGC 6901/6 don’t fit in the same FOV so I’ve had to split them into two different sketches – Doh!

  

  NGC 6901 was very faint, needed Averted Vision (AV) to see it. I thought NGC 6906 had a hint of a stellar core but looking at the maps Owen provided afterwards probably a star superimposed on it.

  

  Andrew Robertson - 5 August 2016

• Observations of the NGC 6702 and NGC 6703

  I was pleased to see these two galaxies made Galaxies of the Month. I made observations of both of them a couple of years ago, and have attached these. My observations were made during astronomical twilight, yet I managed to see both clearly (6703 more clearly than 6702). I was using a 12" f4.9 Newtonian reflector and my observation notes were as follows:

  NGC 6702

  18/06/2014 - Very small and very faint. Not always visible. Elongation was suspected, but no details were seen. Right on the edge of visibility.

  23/07/2014 - Pretty faint and very small but clearly visible. Visible to direct vision at x375. Slightly elongated and slightly brighter in the middle.

  

  NGC 6703

  18/06/2014 - At x150, this galaxy appeared very small, round and pretty faint with a considerably brighter centre. It is visible to direct vision but averted vision increases the outer regions hugely, making visible a large, amorphous outer disc. I think with AV I saw more or less the whole of the galaxy. Still steadily visible to direct vision at x375.

  23/07/2014 - Pretty bright. Fairly small. Round at x150. Brighter middle - stellar nucleus? x375 confirms a tiny stellar nucleus. Nice little galaxy. The conditions on 23rd July were noticeably better than those on the 18th June, and this is reflected in my brightness estimates of the two objects.

  

  Patrick Maloney - (10 June 2016).

• NGC 6702 and NGC 6703 in Lyra

  Observation made on 5th June, 2016 at 01.00am BST. NELM – mag 5.4. Steady seeing under summer skies.

  I have often visited this pair in Lyra but never spent long observing them. They were both easily visible at x138 using a 17mm ethos eyepiece. NGC 6703 being brighter and larger than NGC 6702.

  There is a lovely arc of stars running from NGC 6703 towards NGC 6702 and curving to the North East. They are mainly mag 10–11 stars with one brighter one.

  Using the 13 mm ethos, x181, clearly shows NGC 6703 with a large, bright core and a definite circular halo. NGC 6702 shows as very slightly elliptical, with a smaller, less bright core and at least half the size of NGC 6703.

  The 8mm ethos revealed no more detail. The best view was in the 13mm ethos. To the south of NGC 6703 lies UGC 11357 but even using AV I could not detect its presence.

  

  Using my OMC 200 at x133, showed NGC 6703 easily visible with a hint of a core within a halo but no sign of NGC 6702. The wider fov gave a pleasing context to the pair with the arc of stars running from NGC 6703 being identified.

  Mike Wood - 5 June 2016