Observations of The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC)

NGC 222

Is the second cluster in a line of 3.

It is the smallest, being about 30 arc seconds in diameter and marginally fainter than NGC 220. The cluster has a small condense nucleus, with an outer edge that fades steadily to the sky background. The cluster should be visible in an 8" scope from a dark sky. The brightest stars are 15th magnitude so the outer areas of the cluster start to resolve. Surrounding this cluster is a scattering of 13-14th magnitude stars that make this difficult to confirm. Herschel described the cluster as round and very faint, an observation I agree with.