Hickson 30 in Eridanus

HICKSON	NAME	SIZE (M)	MAG (V)	SB
30a	MCG+00-12-051	1.2X0.8	12.6	12.4
30b	MCG+00-12-054	1.1X0.9	13.2	13.1
30c	PGC 15624	0.6X0.4	14.7	na
30d	PGC 15636	0.6X0.3	15.2	na

Hickson 30a appears fairly faint, elongated 5:3 NW-SE, 1.0°x0.6°, brighter core. Located 40" NW of a mag 11 star. Hickson 30b appears similar to 30a located 3.6° NW (just slightly fainter and similar dimensions). Faint, elongated 5:3 SSW-NNE, 0.9°x0.5°. A mag 12 star lies 1.3° S (nearly collinear with the major axis). An easy mag 13-14 triple staar (sep 15" and 28") lies 2° following. Hickson 30c was a threshhold object at 220x. No details visible but appeared extremely round, 10" diameter. Hickson 30d was only suspected a couple of times 2° NE of 30b. - Steve Gottlieb