A whole New Constellation

Well, I observed Friday evening, not a new deep sky object, but a new Constellation, Corona Australis. The clarity was great, especially after all the haze during the August heat. I found it by a happy accident.

I wanted to observe M54 in Sagittarius, and I normally start at Sigma Sgr and move straight south. M54 is tiny and bright and all by itself. Then I switch a higher power.

But by mistake I started at Ascella, moved straight south and noted a nice double star 6th or 7th mag. and about 5-10 secs. separation. But no M54. Moving back north I ran across a very nice globular cluster, NGC5723. This is about 36-37 degrees south declination and is actually just inside the Sagittarius border. so it was only about 12 or 13 degrees elevation. About as far south as I ever get.

I found the double star in Burnham with the designation "Brs 14", but I don't know what catalog Brs stands for. Can anyone give the name of that? There is a complex of nebulae around Brs 14, but I did not see them. Too far south. I could easily see the arc of the remaining stars in Corona.

I discovered my error a bit later and found M54 easily, along with M69, M70, M55, M18 and the great M22. A globular cluster night.

Regards,
Rick

I observed Corona Australis from La Palma last spring. From +28 degrees the star pattern of the constellation was quite striking. I also accidentally found the globular, NGC5723. It was a nice bright and well resolved cluster. Located further north it would definitely have been included in Messier's list.

Inge S