Object of the Week Mar 25, 2012 - Hickson 56 along with Arp 214

[Dave Tosteson]

I viewed this group in late October, 1992 from central Minnesota with my f4.5 18" Dob. I recall the very cold morning, about 4 am with the temp in the mid teens, and frost most of the way down the inside of my closed dob tube. All 5 galaxies were seen, though "a" was difficult and took several minutes to see as a pinpoint, and "c" and "d" were merged almost together.

On the last night of the 2012 TSP we viewed this group with Jimi's 48" and they were all separated and direct vision, just like an image in a magazine. Direct vision and immediately visible. 3718 had great detail and the tail pointed back to Hickson 56.

Dave Tosteson

[MarcE]

I viewed this group in late October, 1992 from central Minnesota with my f4.5 18" Dob. I recall the very cold morning, about 4 am with the temp in the mid teens, and frost most of the way down the inside of my closed dob tube. All 5 galaxies were seen, though "a" was difficult and took several minutes to see as a pinpoint, and "c" and "d" were merged almost together.

On the last night of the 2012 TSP we viewed this group with Jimi's 48" and they were all separated and direct vision, just like an image in a magazine. Direct vision and immediately visible. 3718 had great detail and the tail pointed back to Hickson 56.

Dave Tosteson

Hi all,
i also had the chance to observe Hickson 56 with Jimis 48" during last night of TSP 2012 (thanks Jimi - it was a great experience). HCG 56 was an easy target; with direct vision i could see all components separated - same as Dave descriped.
With my 15" Obsession i observed HCG 56 two times under very good sky conditions in the austrian alps (about 8000ft elevation) - the chain was visible indirect, but without separation of components B,C and D. Component A was a "50% object" with averted vision (quite hard to see).

Clear skies
Marc