Object of the Week, April 24, 2016 - The Fourcade-Figueroa Shred

[Steve Gottlieb]

Hi Steve,

I am glad my 14" scope was up for the challenge !!

As you could appreciate this target makes the list of "tough objects I want to observe" each and every year at Ozsky, which I have been doing for over 10 years. Consequently, I have observed it a lot of times from Coonabarabran (and a few other good sites) over the past 10 years. I have observed it on a couple of occasions in my 14" scope, many times in the 18" scopes, the 25" scopes and the 30" scope. I have never tried to observe it in anything smaller than my 14" scope although I am guessing my 10" scope, which also has a great mirror in it, might do it under good skies.

Even in the larger scopes I don't get much extra detail from it, other than the brighter central bulge becomes a bit more extended. Pumping up the power to around 300X to 350X helps improve contrast and also helps to extend the central bulge a little.

Cheers,
John B

Thanks for your comments, John. My first view of Fourcade-Figueroa was actually back in 2002 during my first trip to Australia (this was my 7th!). Les Dalrymple showed it to me in his 12.5-inch from Bargo. But I recall it was definitely a *marginal* observation -- particularly as I didn't know exactly what to look for. So, the view earlier this month was much easier to accomplish, particularly from darker skies.