Object of the Week April 2nd 2023 - NGC 3090

[Steve Gottlieb]

I quickly went through the group in 1996 with my 17.5-inch and logged the NGC members --

NGC 3083
Faint, elongated 5:2 SW-NE, 0.8'x0.3'. A group of ~10 mag 12-14 stars lies a few arc minutes NE.

NGC 3086
Very faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1 NW-SE, low even surface brightness. Located 4.8' WSW of NGC 3090.

NGC 3090
Fairly faint, slightly elongated, 0.5'x0.4' NW-SE, small bright core. Located 34" S of a mag 11 star.

NGC 3092
Extremely faint, elongated 2:1 SSW-NNE, 0.8'x0.4', low surface brightness. A mag 13 star lies 1.7' SE and a mag 12 star 2' N.

NGC 3093
Faint, round, only 15" diameter with a hint of a larger halo. A mag 10.5 star is 2.8' NW, a mag 13 star 2' SE and a mag 12 star 2.2' WSW.

NGC 3101
Very faint, elongated ~2:1 NNW-SSE, 0.5'x0.2', very weak concentration.