09 46 18.6 -30 26 12; Ant
V = 11.9; Size 2.9'x1.9'; Surf Br = 13.7; PA = 6°
13.1" (1/18/85): fairly faint, small, elongated WSW-ENE, weak concentration, diffuse. An 11th magnitude star at the NW edge interferes with viewing.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3001 = h3190 on 30 Mar 1835 and recorded "F; R; 30"; attached or contiguous to a * 12; pos = 320° +/- by estimation from diagram." His position and description is accurate.
******************************
09 48 57.4 +44 03 26; UMa
V = 16.5
48" (5/14/12): near the position of NGC 3002 is a faint
trio of stars, mag 16.5/16.5/16.9 as well as
George Johnstone Stoney, Lord Rosse's assistant, discovered
NGC 3002 on 25 Jan 1851. On a sketch of the
More likely, Harold Corwin suggests that NGC 3002 applies to one of two nearby mag 16.5 stars (the third is mag 17.0) with the more likely star at 09 48 57.3 +44 03 26 (2000).
******************************
09 48 36.0 +33 25 17; LMi
V = 11.9; Size 5.8'x1.3'; Surf Br = 14.0; PA = 79°
24" (4/20/14): bright, large, very elongated 4:1 WSW-ENE, 4.0'x1.0', mottled appearance, slightly bulging brighter core and nucleus, brighter and patchy along the major axis with a couple of very small knots. Nearly detached at the west end is a very low surface brightness patch that seems angled or extends beyond the major axis. A mag 15.7 star is ~1' N of center. NGC 3003 and NGC 3021, located 30' ENE, are the two brightest members in the USGC U268 group (z ~.005).
13.1" (3/3/84): moderately bright, very elongated 7:2 WSW-ENE, 3.5'x1.0', almost even surface brightness.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3003 = H. V-26 = h639 on 7 Dec 1785 (sweep 487) and recorded "cB, mE nearly in the parallel, 8' long, 3' broad." John Herschel described this galaxy on 22 Jan 1828 (sweep 51) as "a singular curved wisp of nebula, It curls up and tapers off at the s p side, and is clubbed at the n f extremity."
Lord Rosse's assistants made a total of 13 observations at Birr Castle. On 8 Mar 1858, R.J. Mitchell commented "of unequal brightness throughout its length, p part is F but contains a B patch with a star in it; the foll part is comparatively much brighter and is mottled."
******************************
09 49 02.4 +44 06 40; UMa
V = 16.7
= *, Corwin.
George Johnstone Stoney, Lord Rosse's assistant, discovered
NGC 3004 on 25 Jan 1851. It was placed on the diagram of the NGC 2998 field
about midway between NGC 2998 and
The closest object to the position on the sketch is an extremely faint star with SDSS mag(V) = 16.7. Reinmuth calls it nonstellar (based on a Heidelberg plate):"vF, vS, R, bM, N3000 np 2.4', N3005 nf 2.7'." Dorothy Carlson identifies it as a double star (based on Mount Wilson photograph) and this is repeated in RNGC, though it is clearly a single star on the SDSS.
******************************
NGC 3005 = MCG +07-20-054 = Holm 144c = PGC 28232
09 49 14.9 +44 07 53; UMa
V = 15.0; Size 1.0'x0.2'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 150°
48" (5/14/12): moderately bright and large, elongated
3:1 NNW-SSE, ~0.6'x0.2', broad concentration. Forms the north vertex of a quartet with NGC 2998, 3006 and
3008. Located 3.7' SSE of mag 8.9
17.5" (2/8/91): extremely faint and small, round. Located 3.7' SSE of mag 8.4 SAO 43053. This member of the NGC 2998 group lies just north of a line connecting NGC 2998 6.4' SW and NGC 3008.
George Johnstone Stoney, Lord Rosse's assistant, discovered
NGC 3005 on 25 Jan 1851. He
labeled it "Gamma" on a sketch of the NGC 2998 group. Dreyer gave a more complete description
on 1 Apr 1878, "vF, pS, E nnp ssf." His offset from NGC 2998 (388.5" in PA 62.5°) points
exactly to
******************************
09 49 17.3 +44 01 33; UMa
V = 14.7; Size 0.7'x0.2'; Surf Br = 12.4; PA = 82°
48" (5/14/12): moderately bright, very elongated 7:2 E-W, ~40"x12", broad concentration with a brighter core. Forms the south vertex of a quartet with NGC 2998, 3005 and 3008. MCG +07-20-052, a very low surface brightness interacting pair (misidentified as NGC 3002 in most catalogues), lies 2.2' NW.
17.5" (2/8/91): extremely faint, small, edge-on 4:1
E-W, very low surface brightness.
Located 6.9' SE of
George Johnstone Stoney, Lord Rosse's assistant, discovered
NGC 3006 on 25 Jan 1851. On a sketch of the NGC 2998 group he labeled it Delta.
Dreyer logged it on 1 Apr 1878, "vF, S, stellar." His offset from NGC 2998 (417.9"
in PA 117.2°) points exactly to
******************************
09 47 45.5 -06 26 22; Sex
V = 13.7; Size 1.4'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 90°
17.5" (3/29/97): faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1 E-W, 1.0'x0.5', just a weak broad central brightening. A mag 13 star lies 1.0' S.
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3007 = St. 13-52 = LM 1-158 on 14 Feb 1877. His published position in his 13th discovery list was made on 16 Mar 1885 and is the last object (by date) that he reduced. Francis Leavenworth independently discovered the galaxy on 23 Feb 1886, though his rough position (nearest min of RA) in the first discovery paper of the Leander McCormick Observatory (#158) was 11' too far east-southeast.
******************************
NGC 3008 = MCG +07-20-059 = CGCG 210-039 = Holm 144b = PGC 28252
09 49 34.3 +44 06 10; UMa
V = 14.5; Size 0.5'x0.4'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 135°
48" (5/14/12): fairly bright, fairly small, oval 4:3 NW-SE, 0.4'x0.3', sharply concentrated with a very small bright core that increases to a bright stellar nucleus. A mag 16.7 star is at the east edge. Forms the east vertex of a quartet with NGC 2998 (brightest), NGC 3005 and NGC 3006.
17.5" (2/8/91): very faint, very small, slightly elongated. A mag 15 star is 45" off the west edge and 1.1' from center. Located 9.2' E of NGC 2998 in a group.
George Johnstone Stoney, Lord Rosse's assistant, discovered
NGC 3008 on 25 Jan 1851. On a sketch of the NGC 2998 group he labeled it
Eta. Dreyer logged it on 1 Apr
1878 as "pF, S, E, *13-14 1' p[receding]." His offset from NGC 2998 (552" in PA 88°) is close to
******************************
09 50 11.1 +44 17 41; UMa
V = 14.0; Size 0.8'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.1
24" (3/21/20): fairly faint, fairly small, slightly elongated 5:4 NNW-SSE, ~40" along major axis, broad weak concentration.
17.5" (2/8/91): faint, small, round, even surface brightness. Forms a pair with NGC 3010 5' ENE.
Alternative identification: NGC 3009 = NGC 3010sw = MCG +07-20-065
17.5" (2/8/91): this is the southwest member of the NGC
3010 triple system and noted as very faint, small, round.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3009 = h640, along with NGC
3010, on 17 Mar 1828 (sweep 138). He described it as "Not vF; R; bM;
r. The first of 2 [with NGC
3010]." His position was 17
sec of RA west and 1.5' north of
******************************
NGC 3010 = UGC 5273 NED1 = MCG +07-20-065 = CGCG 239-035 NED1 = Holm 146A = PGC 28335
09 50 33.2 +44 18 52; UMa
V = 14.2; Size 0.8'x0.45'; PA = 45°
24" (3/21/20): at 375x; triple system oriented SW to
NE, with the NE member (
17.5" (2/8/91): triple system consisting of two very
faint, small, round "knots" (identified as
John Herschel discovered NGC 3010 = h641, along with NGC
3009, on 17 Mar 1828 (sweep 138).
He reported it as "F; pretty suddenly brighter middle; r; stars
seen. The second of 2 [with NGC
3009]." There is nothing at
his position, but 35 sec of RA east and 1.4' south is
The observations at Birr Castle are interesting. The 1861 publication only includes the note "Several knots near [NGC 3009 and 3010]. The full account is given in the 1880 monograph. On 1 Mar 1854 R.J. Mitchell recorded, "one pB [NGC 3009], 6' f and a little n are two others vF, about 3' apart pf; several others round about". His separations are poor but probably the second part refers to NGC 3010 and one of its companions. Thirty-five years later in 1878, Dreyer made another observation and wrote, "the f one [NGC 3010] is smaller and in a rectangular triangle of 3 stars." At least one of these "stars" is likely a galaxy. Hermann Kobold measured accurate positions of the two southern components of NGC 3010 with the 18-inch refractor at Strasbourg.
******************************
09 49 41.2 +32 13 16; Leo
V = 13.3; Size 0.9'x0.8'; Surf Br = 12.8
17.5" (4/15/99): faint, fairly small, round, weak concentration, 0.8' diameter. Located 2.5' WSW of a mag 10 star. A nice 10' string of 8 mag 10-12 stars oriented N-S is just a few arcminutes preceding. Picked up at 100x and observation at 220x. Member of the USGC U268 group (z ~.005) with brightest member NGC 3003 1.2° N.
Lewis Swift discovered NGC 3011 = Sw. 3-47 on 21 Apr 1886
with the 16" refractor at Warner Observatory and remarked "eeF; eS;
stel; a row of 8 or 10 pB stars nr preceding." His position is 9 sec of RA west and 1' south of
******************************
09 49 52.1 +34 42 51; LMi
V = 13.5; Size 1.1'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.6
17.5" (4/15/99): faint, small, round, weak concentration, 0.6' diameter. A mag 15 star is 1.5' W and a mag 12 star 3.5' SSE. Picked up at 100x and views at 220x and 280x.
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3012 on 30 Apr 1862 and
described "vF, pL, R, Cometary.
A mag 11 star is 3 1/2' south-southeast." His single position and description matches
******************************
09 50 09.4 +33 34 09; LMi
V = 14.6; Size 0.7'x0.5'; Surf Br = 12.5; PA = 64°
24" (4/20/14): faint, small, slightly elongated,
18"x15". Situated 2.7'
SE of mag 7.9
17.5" (4/6/02): extremely faint and small, round,
10" diameter. Located 3' SE
of mag 7.9
Lawrence Parsons, the 4th earl of Rosse, discovered NGC 3013
on 18 Mar 1874. While viewing the
field of NGC 3021 he found a nebula at 164.8" in PA 137.2° from a mag 8
star. His offsets point directly to
******************************
09 49 07.7 -04 44 35; Sex
V = 14.0; Size 1.1'x1.1'; Surf Br = 14.1
24" (4/14/18): at 282x; fairly faint, fairly small,
elongated 4:3 ~N-S, ~32"x24", broad concentration with a slightly
brighter core, no nucleus. A mag
14.7 star is close off the W side [0.7' WSW of center]. A pair of mag 13.5/14 stars at
~20" separation lies 2.5' N.
Two mag 8 and 9 stars lie 8' S and 9.5' SSE, respectively. The 8th mag star (
17.5" (3/29/97): very faint, fairly small, irregularly round, 0.8' diameter, low even surface brightness. A mag 15 star is very close WSW [38" from the center]. A pair of mag 14 stars [19" separation] lie 3' N.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3014 = h644 on 19 Feb 1830
(sweep 234) and noted "eF; L; 60". The preceding of two [with NGC 3022]. There is nothing at his position (the
dec is marked as uncertain or approximate) though the NGC position is 30'
further north (no reason given in the notes) and 2' south of this corrected
position is
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09 49 22.9 +01 08 43; Sex
V = 13.8; Size 0.5'x0.3'; Surf Br = 12.0; PA = 95°
17.5" (3/29/97): faint, very small, round, 20" diameter. No brighter stars in field.
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3015 = m 183 on 23 Apr
1864. His position is just 1'
north of
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09 49 50.6 +12 41 43; Leo
V = 13.0; Size 1.2'x0.9'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 70°
24" (4/20/14): moderately to fairly bright, oval 4:3
WSW-ENE, 0.8'x0.6', contains a relatively large, very bright core that
increases to the center.
17.5" (3/23/85): fairly faint, fairly small, slightly
elongated, weak concentration.
Second brightest of five in the
13.1" (4/28/84): fairly faint, small, round, almost even surface brightness.
R.J. Mitchell, Lord Rosse's assistant, discovered NGC 3016,
along with NGC 3019, on 21 Mar 1854.
There was no sketch or positions taken but the description reads "4
neb. Two p and f [NGC 3016 and
3019] about 4' apart; the 3rd is north about 3' [
Heinrich d'Arrest independently discovered this galaxy on 31
Dec 1864 with the 11" refractor at Copenhangen. His position, measured on 4 nights, matches
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09 49 03.0 -02 49 19; Sex
V = 13.2; Size 1.0'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.0
17.5" (3/25/95): faint, small, round, 30" diameter, very weak concentration. Forms the east vertex of a near equilateral triangle with two mag 12.5 and 14.5 stars 2.4' NW and 2.7' SW, respectively.
Ormond Stone discovered NGC 3017 = LM 2-416 in 1886 with the 26" refractor at Leander McCormick Observatory. His position is 20 sec of RA east and 2' south of MCG +00-25-019 and his note of "*11 at 3' in PA 300°" clinches this identification.
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09 49 41.5 +00 37 20; Sex
V = 13.3; Size 1.2'x0.7'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 27°
48" (4/7/13): bright, fairly large, very elongated 3:1
SSW-NNE, 0.9'x0.3', small bright core.
A mag 9.7 star is just 0.8' NW of center. Forms a striking pair with
48" (4/2/11): bright, edge-on 4:1 SSW-NNE, fairly
large, ~60"x15", very small bright core. Located just 50" SE of mag 9.7
17.5" (2/8/91): faint, small, elongated 2:1 SW-NE. Dominated by a mag 10 star 48" NW of center. Forms a close pair with NGC 3023 3' E.
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3018 = St. 10-21 = Sw. 3-48 on 10 Mar 1880, along with NGC 3023 = St. 10-22. His position is accurate. Lewis Swift independently discovered the galaxy exactly 6 years later. The RA in his 3rd discovery list was 0.4 minutes too small but his comment "* near north, preceding of 2 [with NGC 3023]" clinches the equivalence.
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NGC 3019 = MCG +02-25-044 = CGCG 063-081 = Holm 147d = PGC 28295
09 50 07.2 +12 44 46; Leo
V = 15.0; Size 0.8'x0.5'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 30°
24" (4/20/14): at 280x appeared faint, small, elongated 2:1 SW-NE, 0.4'x0.2'. A mag 14.5 star is 0.8' NE.
17.5" (3/23/85): very faint, small, almost round. A mag 14 star is off the NE edge 48" from the center. Fourth brightest of five in the NGC 3020. Located 3.0' S of NGC 3020.
R.J. Mitchell discovered NGC 3019 on 21 Mar 1854 with Lord Rosse's 72", along with NGC 3016. There is no published sketch but the description reads "4 neb. Two p and f [NGC 3016 and 3019] about 4' apart; the 3rd is north about 3' [NGC 3024] forming the vertex of an obtuse triangle, the 4th is about 4' further north and lenticular [NGC 3020]." The described orientations are poor and no positions were given, but they certainly refer to the four brightest galaxies. Only a rough position is given in the GC and the NGC position is 3' south of CGCG 063-081 = PGC 28295.
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NGC 3020 = UGC 5271 = MCG +02-25-045 = CGCG 063-082 = Holm 147a = KTG 27B = PGC 28296
09 50 06.6 +12 48 49; Leo
V = 11.9; Size 3.2'x1.6'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 105°
24" (4/20/14): at 280x appeared fairly bright, fairly large, oval 5:3 WNW-ESE, 1.7'x1.0', large elongated core appears to be a bar, mottled appearance. Spiral structure was highly suspected in the halo. Largest and brightest in a quintet with NGC 3019 4' S, NGC 3024 5.5' SE, NGC 3016 8' SSW and CGCG 063-075 11' SW. NGC 3020 and 3024 are a physical pair (z = .004), while the other three galaxies are in the backgroud at z = .03.
17.5" (3/23/85): brightest and largest in the NGC 3020 group, elongated WNW-ESE, brighter core but no nucleus, diffuse halo. Nearby are NGC 3019 4.0' S, NGC 3024 5.4' SE.
13.1" (4/28/84): fairly faint, moderately large, diffuse, elongated ~E-W.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3020 = H. III-51 = h646 = h642, along with NGC 3024, on 19 Mar 1784 (sweep 177). He described both as "Two [along with NGC 3024], both resolvable and eF. The preceding is the largest and they are about 6 or 7' distant from each other. Position about 20° np-sf 6 or 7' distant. I saw them better with 240 than 157. They require some attention before they are well seen." His single position is ~1.0 minute of RA too far east.
John Herschel made three observations under h646 and measured an accurate position, but on a 4th sweep he made an error recording the RA 1.0 minute too small and claimed a "nova" under h642. Dreyer correctly equated the WH and JH designations in the NGC.
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NGC 3021 = UGC 5280 = MCG +06-22-019 = CGCG 182-025 = KTG 26B = PGC 28357
09 50 57.1 +33 33 13; LMi
V = 12.1; Size 1.6'x0.9'; Surf Br = 12.3; PA = 110°
24" (4/20/14): bright, fairly small, oval 3:2 WNW-ESE, 0.9'x0.6', small bright core, stellar nucleus, the halo has an irregular surface brightness. A mag 11 star is 1' SE and a mag 14 star is at the north edge. NGC 3013 lies 10' W and NGC 3003 is 20' WSW. Member of the USGC U268 group.
13.1" (3/3/84): fairly bright, elongated WNW-ESE. A mag 10 star is 1.1' SE of center. Located 30' NE of NGC 3003.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3021 = H. I-115 = h645 on 7 Dec 1785 (sweep 487) and recorded "cB, pL, lE, iF, mbM." On 22 Jan 1827 (sweep 51). John Herschel called this galaxy "pB; R; bM; has a * 10m 20° sf, dist 30"." Samuel Hunter's (Lord Rosse's assistant) sketch in 1863 shows a spiral arm of the east side, curling around towards the west.
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NGC 3022 = MCG -01-25-046 = PGC 28257
09 49 39.2 -05 09 59; Sex
V = 12.2; Size 1.5'x1.5'; Surf Br = 12.9
17.5" (4/15/93): fairly faint, small, round, gradually
increases to a small bright core, stellar nucleus. Located 5.2' SW of a mag 10 star. Forms a pair with
John Herschel discovered NGC 3022 = h647 on 19 Feb 1830
(swweep 234) and recorded "F; R; very gradually little brighter middle; r.
The following of 2 [with NGC 3014]."
His position matches
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NGC 3023 = UGC 5269 = MCG +00-25-022 = CGCG 007-043 = VV 620 = LGG 182-006 = PGC 28272
09 49 52.5 +00 37 07; Sex
V = 13.0; Size 2.9'x1.4'; Surf Br = 14.3; PA = 70°
48" (4/7/13): at 375x; very bright, large, irregular, asymmetric with a bright, slightly elongated central region, ~40"x30". Extending to the west of the core is large, faint halo or loop, most evident on the north side of the loop (spiral arm), which is brighter and more sharply defined as it sweeps to the west towards companion NGC 3018. The loop extends the diameter to ~1.7'. Mrk 1236 (likely an HII/star-forming region) is a very small, but very high surface brightness knot attached on the east side of the core.
48" (4/2/11): at 375x this bright, interacting galaxy has a very unusual, asymmetric appearance. The central region is bright, oval 4:3 NNW-SSE, 40"x30", increases evenly to a very small, very bright nucleus. A larger, outer halo extends mainly to the west. The halo extends from the central region ~1' in a loop and is brightest along the rim, particularly looping from the north side of the core counterclockwise to the west [the DSS reveals this feature is a spiral arm]. This arm gives the visual impression of a partial ring extending the west of the core.
Mrk 1236, a bright HII knot (often classified as a Wolf-Rayet galaxy) is attached within the small halo on the east side of the core, just 25" ESE of center. It appeared moderately bright, very small, elongated 2:1 E-W, ~16"x8", very high surface brightness. On the SDSS image this object is resolved into several clumps or knots. NGC 3018 lies 2.8' W of center. Located 3.4' ESE of mag 9.7 HD 85095.
17.5" (2/8/91): fairly faint, fairly small, slightly elongated 4:3, broad concentration in halo but no nucleus. A faint star or knot is visible on the east end. Forms a pair with NGC 3018 3' W and also 3.4' ESE of a mag 10 star. This is a double system which was probably recorded in the observation as a faint star/knot (Mrk 1236)!
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3023 = St. 10-20 = Sw. 3-49, along with NGC 3018 on 25 Mar 1879. His published position was reduced on 10 Mar 1880 and included in his 10th discovery list. Lewis Swift rediscovered the galaxy exactly 6 years later and included it in his 3rd discovery list (#49). Both Stephan (1) and Swift (2) were credited in the NGC.
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NGC 3024 = UGC 5275 = MCG +02-25-046 = CGCG 063-084 = Holm 147b = KTG 27C = PGC 28324
09 50 27.4 +12 45 56; Leo
V = 13.1; Size 2.1'x0.5'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 125°
24" (4/20/14): moderately bright and large, thin edge-on 4:1 NW-SE, bright very elongated core, 1.3'x0.3'. A mag 14 star is off the SE end (aligned with the major axis).
17.5" (3/23/85): fairly faint, thin edge-on NW-SE, 1.4'x0.3', brighter core. A mag 13.5 star is off the SE edge 1.4' from center. This galaxy is the third brightest of five in the NGC 3020 group. NGC 3020 lies 5.7' NW and NGC 3019 is 5' ESE.
13.1" (4/28/84): faint, fairly small, edge-on NW-SE. A mag 13.5 star is off the east edge.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3024 = H. III-52 = h648, along with NGC 3020, on 19 Mar 1784 (sweep 177). He described the together as "Two, both resolvable and eF. The preceding [NGC 3020] is the largest and they are about 6 or 7' distant from each other. Position about 20° np-sf 6 or 7' distant. I saw them better with 240 than 157. They require some attention before they are well seen." His single position was ~1.0 minute of RA too large.
John Herschel made a single observation on 23 Mar 1830 (sweep 242): "vF; pL; E. PD estimated from III.51 [NGC 3020] which precedes." His "estimated polar distance" was 1.2' too far south.
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09 49 29.1 -21 44 32; Hya
V = 12.9; Size 1.5'x1.2'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 110°
17.5" (4/1/00): fairly faint, roundish, 0.8' diameter,
weak concentration, halo fades into background. With averted vision, the halo increases to over 1' in
diameter. Located 2.6' NW of mag
9.3
John Herschel discovered NGC 3025 = h3192 on 21 Mar 1835 and recorded "eF, vS, R, north of a * 9 m." His position and description is an exact match with ESO 566-015.
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09 50 55.4 +28 33 05; Leo
V = 13.0; Size 2.7'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.7; PA = 82°
17.5" (2/8/91): fairly faint, fairly large, very elongated 3:1 E-W, even fairly low surface brightness.
Lewis Swift discovered NGC 3026 = Sw. 3-50 on 22 May 1886
and recorded "eeF; pS; lE; e diff; in vacancy, found searching for
Winnecke's comet [7P/Pons-Winnecke]." His position is 10 sec of RA east and 1' south of
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09 55 40.5 +72 12 13; UMa
V = 11.8; Size 4.3'x2.0'; Surf Br = 13.9; PA = 130°
17.5" (4/4/92): faint, fairly large, elongated NW-SE, 3'x2', weak concentration, low surface brightness. Two mag 15 stars are superimposed at the NW end of the major axis and at the south edge. NGC 2985 lies 25' WNW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3027 = H. V-23 = h643 on 3
Apr 1785 (sweep 390). He logged "faint, large, little extended,
resolvable, 6' or 7' long, 5' or 6' broad." His position was just off the east side of
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09 49 54.1 -19 11 05; Hya
V = 12.7; Size 1.3'x1.0'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 48°
17.5" (3/16/96): fairly faint, small, round, 35" diameter, weak concentration. A mag 12 star lies 3.2' SE.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3028 = h3193 on 23 Mar 1835 and recorded "F; S; R; little brighter middle; 15"." His position is an exact match with ESO 566-016 = PGC 28276.
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09 48 54.0 -08 03 04; Sex
V = 14.0; Size 1.4'x0.9'; Surf Br = 14.1; PA = 46°
17.5" (2/1/03): very faint, fairly small, slightly elongated SW-NE, 0.7'x0.5', very low surface brightness. Located 4.5' E of a mag 11 star. Collinear with two mag 13 star to the NE.
Lewis Swift discovered NGC 3029 = Sw. 3-51 on 8 Feb 1886
with the 16" refractor at the Warner Observatory. His description simply reads "pF;
pS; R." His position is 1.5
tmin E and 6.5' N of
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09 50 10.5 -12 13 35; Hya
V = 13.8; Size 0.8'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.1
17.5" (4/15/93): faint, small, round, broad
concentration. A mag 12 star is 1'
NNW. Located 2.5' NNW of mag 8.5
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3030 = LM 2-417 in 1886
and recorded "mag 15.7, 0.2' dia, R, gradually brighter then suddenly brighter
in the middle to a nucleus."
His position is only 10 sec of RA east and 1' south of
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09 55 33.2 +69 03 55; UMa
V = 6.9; Size 26.9'x14.1'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 157°
48" (4/15/10): dazzling view of
Holmberg IX was visible 10.5' E of the center of M81. With this dwarf galaxy centered in the eyepiece, the outer halo of M81 was visible near the edge of the field. At 330x it appeared very faint, fairly large, 2' diameter, round, low even surface brightness with no noticeable concentration. The galaxy is nestled within a kite asterism including a mag 13 star 1.3' S.
17.5" (4/15/93): Type II SN 1993J was very prominent at 11th magnitude (2.8' SSW of nucleus). This supernova was followed for a number of nights, even in light-polluted skies in my 10" at home. This supernova was one the brightest SNe of the 20th century, reaching mag 10.7-10.8.
17.5" (many dates starting 3/23/85): very bright, very
large, elongated 2:1 NNW-SSE, about 16'x8', large oval bright middle, bright
core, nearly stellar nucleus. Two
mag 11.5 and 11.9 stars are superimposed in the halo at the south edge of the
core. An easily visible spiral arm
is attached near these two stars at the south end of the core. This arm curves due north along the
east side and is well separated from the main body. A second arm was suspected on 10/12/85 as a short extension
curving around the NNW end towards a mag 12 star at the WNW edge of the halo
and was described as "shorter and much less prominent. The second arm was definitely seen on
1/31/87. Mag 8.7
13.1" (1/18/85): extremely faint arm attached at the southeast end near two stars and curves to the east.
8": very bright, bright core, large oval halo, elongated NW-SE, two faint stars involved.
Johann Bode discovered M81 = NGC 3031 = h649, along with M82, on 31 Dec 1774. Pierre Méchain independently discovered M81 in Aug 1779.
William Herschel's first observation of M81 and M82 was on 6
Aug 1783 with his 12-inch (called the small 20-ft), according to Wolfgang
Steinicke. He next observed the
pair on 8 Nov 1801 (sweep 1100, under the pole) and described M81 as
"extremely bright, the bright part [core] confined to a very small place;
very much elongated fron north preceding to south following; the nebulosity is
of the milky kind; it exceeds the limits of the field." On his last recorded sweep 1112 on 30
Sep 1802, he wrote "very bright, extremely large; it very nearly fills all
the field, it loses itself imperceptibly, much elongated np sf; I can trace it
nearly 1/2° in extent beyond the brightest part." Due to an issue with the ropes and the
polar distances, Caroline assumed M81 was M82! M82, itself, was catalogued as a new object (IV. 79)
by John Herschel in his Cape Catalogue of 1847 (see
On 28 Oct 1831 (sweep 377) John Herschel described h649 as "extremely bright; extremely large; elongated, position angle = 156°, gradually brighter and then suddenly very much brighter middle, with faint rays of light nearly to extremities of field (15'). The most condensed part is 4' long and 3' broad." He mistakenly identified the galaxy as M82, though, probably due to the mix-up by his aunt. It wasn't until the NGC in 1888 that the various catalogue entries for M81 and M82 were correctly sorted out!
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09 52 08.2 +29 14 10; Leo
V = 12.5; Size 2.0'x1.8'; Surf Br = 13.8; PA = 95°
17.5" (2/8/91): moderately bright, very small, almost
round, very small bright core, bright stellar nucleus, surrounded by small very
faint halo. Located midway between
mag 8.6
John Herschel discovered NGC 3032 = h650 on 24 Dec 1827 (sweep 115) and logged "a *12 with an eF atmos about 10-12". It is between a *8-9m n p and one = 10m, s f, neither of which are so affected. A curious object." His position and description applies, although the two stars are more nearly north and south.
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09 48 39 -56 24 42; Vel
V = 8.8; Size 5'
24" (4/10/08 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): at
200x, this is a small 4' group of ~30 stars situated just SW of mag 6.1 HD
85250. Many of the stars are
arranged in a loop or oval on the SW side of the star, so the combination with
the bright star appears similar to a diamond ring. The cluster members are fairly uniform in brightness with a
number of mag 11 stars. A wide
double star 5' SE (9.5/11.5 at 26") is collinear with
John Herschel discovered NGC 3033 = h3194 on 27 Feb 1835 and logged "irregularly round cluster, 8' diameter, of 50 or 60 stars, 11 and 12 mag. In the milky way, but sufficiently rich and distinct to be registered as a cluster."
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NGC 3034 = M82 = Arp 337 = UGC 5322 = MCG +12-10-011 = CGCG 333-008 = UMa A = PGC 28655 = Cigar Galaxy
09 55 52.7 +69 40 46; UMa
V = 8.4; Size 11.2'x4.3'; Surf Br = 12.5; PA = 65°
48" (4/15/10): stunning view at 330x with numerous irregular dark rifts slicing up the mottled, clumpy surface. Several very small, bright knots or condensations (Super Star Clusters - SSCs) are just west of a dark wedge that pierces the galaxy on the south side and tapers as it cuts across the center at an oblique angle. The very bright section of the galaxy to the northeast of the dark absorption wedge also displays mottled structure. Another prominent dark inclusion cuts into the galaxy from the north on the northeast side of the galaxy. A very faint extension of low surface brightness haze (the superwind outflow) bulges out from the main portion of the galaxy on the south side. This glow is west of the dark wedge and east of a mag 10.5 star located 5.8' SW of center. On images this large bulge appears to explode out from the galaxy with filamentary structure. Overall, there was too much visible structure to describe from a couple of minutes at the eyepiece.
24" (1/25/14): viewed type-Ia SN 2014J (discovered 4 days earlier), which was close to 11th magnitude and apparently still brightening. It appeared a pale orange or red color! I don't know if this was due to intervening dust in M82, but I hadn't seen this effect before in a supernova. This is the closest type-Ia discovered in the past 42 years.
17.5" (10/12/85): very bright, large, edge-on 4:1 WSW-ENE, 10' x 2.5', large bright irregular core. Very mottled with an unusually high surface brightness. Unique appearance with several dark cuts oblique to the major axis including a prominent wedge or cut nearly through the center. A mag 10 star is just south of the SW end 5.8' from the center
13.1" (4/24/82 and 11/5/83): highly mottled with two obvious dark lanes.
8": bright, spindle, mottled. A dark wedge cuts into the galaxy near the center from the south side.
10x50 binoculars: faintly visible though easier in 15x50's.
Johann Bode discovered M82 = NGC 3034 = H. IV-79, along with M81, on 31 Dec 1774. Pierre Méchain independently discovered M82 in Aug 1779.
William Herschel observed M82 on 8 Nov 1801 (sweep 1100). His description reads "extremely bright, much extended south preceding north following, about 10' long." He also observed in on his final sweep 1112, conducted on 30 Sep 1802 (sweep 1112): "a very bright, beautiful ray of light, brightest in the middle of all the length, about 8' long and 2 or 3' broad." Due to an issue with the ropes and the polar distances, Caroline assumed M81 (observed immediately after) was M82 and she recorded M82 as new! William viewed M82 again on 23 Dec 1805 with the X-ft telescope (24-inch f/5) and noted "It seems to be mottled in the length containing brightish places like stars."
Due to his aunt's error, John Herschel added M82 as one of 8 new "HON" objects ("Herschel omitted nebulae") in the Appendix to his Cape Catalogue of 1847, with Herschel designator IV. 79. This list was meant to include new discoveries found after observations for the third catalogue of 500 objects were completed. In the General Catalogue (GC), John realized the error and correctly associated M82 = HON 4 = IV. 79, though M81 has two entries (GC 1949 and GC 1953), the second from his father's observation on sweep 1112. It wasn't until the NGC in 1888 that the various catalogue entries for M81 and M82 were correctly sorted out!
Ralph Copeland made the first published comment about dark lanes on 21 May 1871 as the observing assistant on the 72". He noted "A most extraordinary object, at least 10' in length, and crossed by several dark bands."
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09 51 55.0 -06 49 23; Sex
V = 12.7; Size 1.6'x1.5'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 25°
17.5" (4/15/93): faint, fairly small, round, gradually brighter core, faint stellar nucleus.
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3035 = St. 10-23 on 25 Mar
1879. His published position was
reduced on 5 Mar 1880 and is an exact match with
******************************
09 49 20 -62 40 30; Car
Size 10'
14" (4/2/16 - Coonabarabran, 123x and 160x): nice
cluster consisting of two main groups with offshoots. Overall fairly rich with roughly 30 stars in the southern
group and 15 in the northern. The
larger southern group forms an elongated looping chain and extends ~6'x1.5'. It includes a mag 9.9 star near the
west end and a 11.5/12.5 pair at 15" on the southwest end. Two mag 10 stars are at the east end. The distinct northern chain also
includes a 14" pair. This
cluster is situated 12' WNW of mag 5.6
John Herschel discovered NGC 3036 = h3197 on 7 Mar and recorded "The chief star 10m of a cluster class VIII of sc st 10' dia. It is one the borders of the milky way." His position corresponds with a mag 10 star on the west side of a scattered group that is well-defined on the DSS. JH's original Cape position was 20' too far north but he corrected it on the errata page, so the GC and NGC position is accurate. RNGC classifies the number as nonexistent (Type 7).
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09 51 24.2 -27 00 40; Hya
V = 13.1; Size 1.2'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.3
17.5" (4/1/00): fairly faint, roundish, 1.0' diameter,
very little concentration. A
30" pair of mag 14 stars close SE (~1.5') is collinear with the center of
the galaxy. Located 5.4' SSW of
mag 9.7
John Herschel discovered NGC 3037 = h3195 on 26 Mar 1835 and recorded "F; R; little brighter middle; 30"." His position is an exact match with ESO 499-010 = PGC 28381.
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09 51 15.4 -32 45 09; Ant
V = 11.6; Size 2.5'x1.3'; Surf Br = 12.7; PA = 130°
18" (3/17/07): fairly bright, fairly large, oval 3:2
NW-SE, ~1.8'x1.2', large bright core, very faint halo, brighter quasi-stellar
nucleus. Three IC galaxies lie to
the west with
17.5" (3/28/87): moderately bright, slightly elongated oval WSW-ENE, fairly small, bright core.
Lewis Swift discovered NGC 3038 = Sw. 3-52 on 27 Feb 1886
and noted "pB; pS; R."
His position is just 40" north of
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09 52 29.6 +02 09 15; Sex
V = 13.4; Size 1.3'x0.6'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 12°
17.5" (2/8/91): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1 SW-NE, weak concentration, faint stellar nucleus. A mag 11 star is 3.9' WSW and two mag 12.5 stars lie 3.0' W and 1.5' N.
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3039 = m 184 on 22 Jan 1865 and
logged "vF, S, iR." His
position matches
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09 53 05.1 +19 25 56; Leo
V = 13.3; Size 1.0'x0.5'; Surf Br = 11.9; PA = 170°
17.5" (4/9/99): faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1 NNW-SSE, 0.8'x0.4'. Fairly well concentrated with a bright, round 20" core and faint extensions. A mag 14 star lies 1.8' SSE. Brightest in a triple system, including Ho 148b at the northeast edge (companions not seen).
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3040 = St. 13-53 on 16 Mar
1882. His published position in
list 13 was reduced on 25 Mar 1884 and matches
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09 53 07.2 +16 40 40; Leo
V = 11.5; Size 3.7'x2.4'; Surf Br = 13.8; PA = 95°
17.5" (3/29/89): fairly faint, large, diffuse, slightly elongated. A mag 13 is just off the SW end 1.5' from the center and two mag 14.5 stars are at the NW edge 1.2' from center and at the north edge 1' from the center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3041 = H. II-98 = h3196 on 23 Mar 1784 (sweep 184). His description reads, "L, not vF, resolvable, R, not much bM. North following the most south of 2 bright stars and not far from it; the nebulosity reaches up the bright star." Interestingly, John Herschel called this galaxy a globular cluster and noted "F; L; R; very gradually little brighter in the middle; 2.5' dia; resolved with left eye." Dreyer noted it was not a globular in 1876 observation at Birr Castle.
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09 53 20.1 +00 41 51; Sex
V = 12.9; Size 1.2'x0.8'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 111°
17.5" (2/8/91): fairly faint, very small, elongated 2:1 ~E-W, very small bright core, very faint extensions from core. A mag 13 star is 1.3' SW of core.
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3042 = m 185 on 30 Apr 1864 and recorded "pB, S, vlE, gradually brighter in the middle." His position is accurate.
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09 56 14.6 +59 18 25; UMa
V = 12.6; Size 1.7'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.5; PA = 84°
17.5" (3/12/88): moderately bright, fairly small, very
elongated 5:2 WSW-ENE, 1.2'x0.5', small bright core. Located 8' S of mag 7.9
William Herschel discovered NGC 3043 = H. II-835 = h651 on 19 Mar 1790 (sweep 952) and noted "cF; S; E." His position is within 1' of UGC 5327. John Herschel described it on 9 Feb 1831 (sweep 323) as "eF; pL; 35"; very gradually brighter middle; has a *10 m 7' n."
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09 53 40.8 +01 34 46; Sex
V = 11.9; Size 4.9'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 113°
17.5" (2/8/91): fairly bright, large, edge-on 6:1 WNW-ESE, dimensions 3.5'x0.5', broadly concentration but does not contain a well-defined core.
13.1" (4/10/86): very pretty, very thin edge-on streak at 166x-214x, moderately large, brighter middle.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3044 = H. III-254 = h652 on 13 Dec 1784 (sweep 342) and recorded "eF, mE, 3 or 5' long and near 1' br from np to sf; but not far from the parallel." One week later on 20 Dec (sweep 348) he logged "very faint; about 5' long but extremely narrow, less than 1/4' broad; from np to sf." He published a sketch in his 1811 paper (Fig. 7) as an example of "very narrow long nebulae." John Herschel measured an accurate position on 27 Jan 1832 (sweep 397) and recorded, "vF; mE, pos = 111.5°; 80" l, 15" br. Aurora in sky, even at this polar distance." The UGC, RC3 list the PA = 13°, but it should read 113°.
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09 53 17.7 -18 38 43; Hya
V = 12.9; Size 1.5'x0.7'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 110°
13.1" (4/10/86): faint, small, round, no details. Located 17' W of
John Herschel discovered NGC 3045 = h3198 on 23 Mar 1835 and recorded "vF; R; little brighter middle; 30"." His position is accurate.
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09 53 22.0 -27 19 19; Ant
= *?, RNGC and ESO.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3046 = h3199 on 24 Mar 1835 and
noted "pF; R. RA precarious;
a hurried observation." His position is 30" south of a mag 14.6 star
and RNGC and ESO identify NGC 3046 as a star. I would think it likely this was a duplicate observation of
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09 54 32.0 -01 17 27; Sex
V = 13.6; Size 0.5'x0.5'
17.5" (3/25/95): very faint, very small, round,
15" diameter, faint stellar nucleus.
Located 1.3' SSE of mag 8.6
George Hough discovered NGC 3047 on 24 Apr 1883 with the
18.5-inch Clark refractor at the Dearborn Observatory and described as
"small and round, very faint."
Both Hough and Sherburne Burnham reobserved the galaxy on 5 May and
Dreyer credited the pair. The
discovery position in AN 2524 is 8 tsec W (only given to the nearest tenth of a
tmin) of
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09 54 56.5 +16 27 23; Leo
V = 15.4; Size 0.7'x0.4'; PA = 110°
17.5" (3/29/89): extremely faint, very small,
round. A mag 14 star is 1.3'
SE. Forms a pair with
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3048 = m186 on 27 Apr 1864 and
simply noted "eF". His
position matches
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09 54 49.6 +09 16 17; Leo
V = 12.1; Size 2.2'x1.4'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 25°
17.5" (4/15/93): fairly faint, moderately large, elongated 3:2 SSW-NNE, weak concentration. A mag 11 star is 3.4' NE of center and a mag 14 star lies 1.9' SW of center.
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3049 = St. 12-37 on 13 Mar 1874 and described it as "very faint, very small, faint star very near.". His published position (list 12, #37) was measured 8 years later on 20 Mar 1882
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09 43 08.6 -10 23 01; Sex
See observing notes for
Frank Muller discovered NGC 3050 = LM 2-418 in 1886 with the 26" refractor at the Leander McCormick Observatory. His notes inlcude "mag 14.0, 0.6' dia, vlE 200°, gradually brighter middle to a nucleus." There is nothing near his rough position (nearest min of time).
Harold Corwin suggests, NGC 3050 is a duplicate of NGC 2979 (discovered by WH), which is located is over 11 tmin of RA west of Muller's position! But the declination matches and the description and position angle is a good fit, so if a 10 min recording error in RA was made, this identification is likely.
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NGC 3051 = NGC 3046: = ESO 499-016 = MCG -04-24-004 = LGG 185-001 = PGC 28536
09 53 58.6 -27 17 11; Ant
V = 11.8; Size 2.1'x1.9'; Surf Br = 13.2
17.5" (3/25/00): fairly faint, moderately large, round,
1.2' diameter. Broadly
concentrated halo containing a very small bright core. Located 14' ENE of mag 6.4
John Herschel discovered NGC 3051 = h3201 on 24 Mar 1835 and
recorded ""pF, S, R, gradually brighter in the middle; 20
arcseconds." His position
matches
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NGC 3052 = ESO 566-026 = MCG -03-25-030 = PGC 28570
09 54 28.0 -18 38 21; Hya
V = 12.2; Size 2.0'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 102°
13.1" (4/10/86): moderately bright, slightly elongated,
diffuse, weak concentration.
Located 23' NNW of mag 4.9
William Herschel discovered NGC 3052 = H. III-272 = h3202 on
7 Feb 1785 (sweep 368) and noted "vF, pS, irr. A lttle brighter towards the middle." Caroline's reduced position is 1.5'
southeast of
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NGC 3053 = UGC 5329 = MCG +03-25-040 = CGCG 092-074 = CGCG 093-001 = PGC 28631
09 55 33.6 +16 25 58; Leo
V = 12.7; Size 1.8'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 140°
17.5" (3/29/89): fairly faint, oval NW-SE, bright core. A mag 14.5 star is 0.9' NE. Forms a pair with NGC 3048 8.7' WNW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3053 = H. III-600 = h3200 on
14 Jan 1787 (sweep 690) and noted "vF, S, iR." Caroline's reduced position is 1.5'
north of
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09 54 28.6 -25 42 13; Hya
V = 11.8; Size 3.8'x2.3'; Surf Br = 14.0; PA = 123°
17.5" (2/28/87): moderately bright, moderately large, bright core, diffuse halo, elongated WNW-ESE. Brightest in a group (LGG 185) including NGC 3051, 3078, 3084 and 3089.
Christian Peters discovered NGC 3054 on 3 Apr 1859, perhaps while asteroid hunting, with the 13.5-inch refractor at Hamilton College Observatory. His RA was 6 seconds of time too small.
Ormond Stone found this galaxy again on 14 Jan 1886 at the Leander McCormick Observatory and recorded it as #60 in the first LM first discovery list. His rough RA was ~1.5 minutes of time too large but his description (PA = 120°, 2.7'x0.8') matches this galaxy.
Based on photographs taken in 1919-20 at the Helwan Observatory, the galaxy was described as "F, 3'x2', E 110°, spiral with pF almost stellar nucleus and faint well defined whorls [arms]."
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09 55 18.1 +04 16 11; Sex
V = 12.1; Size 2.1'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 63°
13.1" (4/10/86): moderately bright, elongated 3:2 WSW-ENE, moderately large. There is a sharper light cut-off on the east side due to dust. Located 5.7' SSE of a mag 10.5 star.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3055 = H. VI-4 = h656 on 24
Jan 1784 (sweep 116). He described
it as "a nebula or cluster of very close and small stars." Herschel misplaced this galaxy in his
class VI of "Very condensed and rich clusters of stars." A similar error was made with
John Herschel made 3 observations and noted on 10 Apr 1828 (sweep 143), "pB, gradually brighter in the middle; r; lE; 60" l, 40" br; twilight. No other cluster or neb near."
R.J. Mitchell, Lord Rosse's assistant on 15 Mar 1855, recorded the following detail: "E sp nf, has a B nucl and a knot in sp end, or rather a twist towards then." The following January he remarked "I see it as last year with appendage or curved branch at sp end."
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09 54 32.9 -28 17 53; Ant
V = 11.7; Size 1.8'x1.1'; Surf Br = 12.3; PA = 16°
17.5" (2/28/87): fairly faint, very small, bright core, very slightly elongated halo N-S. A mag 12.5 star is off the NE end.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3056 = h3203 on 30 Mar 1835 and
recorded "pB; S; R; very suddenly much brighter middle; has a * 10m almost
contiguous; pos from neb = 203.8°.
His position and description matches
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10 05 39.5 +80 17 09; Dra
V = 13.0; Size 2.2'x1.3'; Surf Br = 14.0; PA = 5°
17.5" (1/28/89): faint, moderately large, elongated. Two mag 13-14 stars are off the south edge.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3057 = H. III-978 on 26 Sep
1802 (sweep 1111, under the pole).
He recorded "extremely faint, pretty large, very little brighter
middle. Just north of 2 small
stars that are nearly in the parallel [E-W]." Caroline's reduced position is within 1' of
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09 53 35.7 -12 28 55; Hya
V = 12.5; Size 1.3'x0.7'; Surf Br = 12.2; PA = 35°
28" (4/12/18): at 366x; moderately bright, fairly small, elongated ~3:2 SW-NE, ~40"x25", very small slightly brighter nucleus. A mag 13.6 star is 1.1' W. A very close, faint pair (~6" separation) is 1.1' SSE.
NGC 3058 is interacting with NGC 3058 NED1 = LEDA 3442467, only 18" NW of center. The companion was very faint, extremely small, ~10" diameter, virtually attached to NGC 3058.
17.5" (4/15/93): faint, fairly small, round, low even surface brightness. A mag 13 star is 1.0' W. A wide mag 12/13 pair at 45" separation lies 2' SSW and a mag 12/13.5 pair at 30" separation E-W lies 3.5' W.
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3058 = LM 1-159 on 6 May
1886 and recorded "mag 15.5, size 1.2', double or binuclear,
tri-nuclear?". There is nothing at his rough position (nearest minute of
RA) but about 2 min of RA west is the double system
Stephane Javelle independently discovered this galaxy on 20
Apr 1892 and measured a fairly accurate position for J. 1-171 (later
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09 50 08.5 -73 55 18; Car
V = 11.0; Size 3.6'x3.2'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 71°
24" (4/12/08 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): at 200x appears fairly bright, fairly large, slightly elongated. Appears to have a central bar or an elongated core (barred spiral). At moments I caught a glimpse of a faint stellar nucleus. The halo is large, ~2.5'x2.0' and seems mottled. Surrounded by a number of stars in a rich star field and situated 5' ESE of a mag 9 star. I accidentally forgot to check this object off from the previous night so it was still on my observing list, though I suspected it had been seen earlier.
24" (4/11/08 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): at
260x appears fairly bright, large, slightly elongated, ~3.0'x2.5', weak
concentration except for a small elongated core or bar (this is a face-on
barred spiral). Overall the
surface brightness is fairly low, but fairly impressive due to its large size
and central bar. The galaxy is surrounded
by a number of mag 13 stars. A mag
8.9 star (
John Herschel discovered NGC 3059 = h3205 on 23 Mar 1835 and recorded "F; L; irreg R; gradually little brighter middle; 3'; many vS stars near and in it." His position (corrected in a list of errata at the end of the CGH) matches ESO 037-007.
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09 56 19.2 +16 49 52; Leo
V = 13.0; Size 2.2'x0.6'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 78°
17.5" (4/13/91): fairly faint, very elongated 4:1 WSW-ENE, bright core, no well-defined nucleus, faint extensions taper to points.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3060 = H. III-601 = h3204 on 14 Jan 1787 (sweep 690) and recorded "vF, cS, lE, easily resolvable."
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09 56 11.9 +75 51 59; Dra
V = 12.8; Size 1.7'x1.5'; Surf Br = 13.6
17.5" (1/28/89): faint, fairly large, slightly elongated, low surface brightness. There are two faint stars at the edges; a mag 14.5 star 1.8' NW of center and a faint 15 star 0.9' SSE of center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3061 = H. II-903 on 2 Apr
1801 (sweep 1096) and logged "faint, pretty large, resolvable." This is one of 15 far northern galaxies
with large systematic errors due to a misidentification of the offset star and
the telescope misaligned off the meridian by 7°. A corrected position matching
John Herschel observed what he assumed was his father's II. 903, and recorded h653 as "very doubtful. Moonlight and haze." There is nothing at or near his poisition (noted in the 1911 Monthly Notices paper). JH used his position, though, and basically his father's description (changing "F" to "vF") in the GC and Dreyer followed this in the NGC. So, NGC 3061 = H. II. 903 and not h653.
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09 56 35.7 +01 25 43; Sex
V = 14.5; Size 0.6'x0.3'; Surf Br = 12.5; PA = 65°
17.5" (4/15/99): very faint, very small, round, 20" diameter. Weak concentration to a slightly brighter core and occasional stellar nucleus. Not noticed at 100x but easy at 220x. Based on description, I probably viewed the brighter core only and missed the fainter extensions. Located 45' ESE of NGC 3044.
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3062 = m 187 with Lassell's
48" and noted "vF, vS, alm stellar." His position matches Marth's position matches
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10 01 41.6 +72 07 05; UMa
V = 14.8/15.1; Size 10"
= **, Carlson.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3063 = H. II-909 on 30 Sep
1802 (his last sweep 1112!). It
was found in the field of
Herschel didn't include this object in his third catalogue as he had already reached his 500 object threshold, but John Herschel added it in an appendix to his Cape Catalogue (HON 5 = [William] Herschel Omitted Nebulae"), with the designation II-909 (later GC 1972). There was confusion, though, which objects were the two nebulae previously discovered -- Caroline apparently thought the eastern most object (NGC 3066) was new. As a result, John Herschel called it the third of three, instead of the first of three. This confusion carried into the NGC and even Dreyer's 1912 commentary on William Herschel's third catalogue. See Corwin's notes for the full history.
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09 55 41.5 -06 21 50; Sex
V = 13.7; Size 1.1'x0.3'; Surf Br = 12.3; PA = 35°
17.5" (3/25/00): very faint, fairly small, elongated 3:2 SW-NE, low even surface brightness. A distinctive group of mag 11-13 stars is roughly 5' NE. The brighter mag 11 stars form a rectangle with a 13th magnitude star in the center.
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3064 = LM 1-161 on 6 May
1886 and noted "mag 16.0, vS, E45°." A second listing LM I-162, has the note "same as
161?" and was not included in the NGC. It may refer to a different observation of NGC 3064 or
Harold Corwin suggests it may be
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NGC 3065 = UGC 5375 = MCG +12-10-014 = CGCG 333-010 = VII Zw 303 = PGC 29046
10 01 55.3 +72 10 13; UMa
V = 12.5; Size 1.7'x1.7'; Surf Br = 13.5
17.5" (4/4/92): moderately bright, fairly small, round, 1.0' diameter, bright core, stellar nucleus, fairly high surface brightness. A mag 11 star is 1.4' NW. Forms a close striking pair with slightly fainter NGC 3066 3.1' SSE.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3065 = H. II-333 = h654,
along with NGC 3066, on 3 Apr 1785 (sweep 390). His description reads, "Two, pretty faint, small,
brighter middle. The most north
[NGC 3065] a little larger and brighter than the southern one [NGC 3066];
otherwise much alike; not far from being in the same meridian." Caroline's reduced position is ~30
seconds of RA east of
John Herschel made a single observation on 4 Nov 1831 (sweep 382), noting "vF; S; R; 10"; near a * 11-12m." The NGC position (from d'Arrest) matches UGC 5375.
******************************
NGC 3066 = UGC 5379 = MCG +12-10-015 = CGCG 333-011 = Mrk 133 = PGC 29059
10 02 11.0 +72 07 31; UMa
V = 12.9; Size 1.1'x1.0'; Surf Br = 12.9
17.5" (4/4/92): moderately bright, fairly small, round, gradual moderate concentration but no sharp core. Only slightly fainter than NGC 3065 3' NNW but has a smoother surface brightness.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3066 = H. II-334 = h655, along with NGC 3065, on 3 Apr 1785 (sweep 390). He recorded "Two, pretty faint, small, bright middle. The most north [NGC 3065] a little larger and brighter than the southern one [NGC 3066]; otherwise much alike; not far from being in the same meridian." Caroline's reduced position is 30 seconds of RA east of the pair. The pair was the very last objects Herschel observed on his final sweep 1112 on 30 Sep 1802 and were described as "faint, pretty large, round." He also also recorded a third object (later NGC 3063), which is a faint double star, but the positions and identifications of the three objects were confused by both Herschels. Dreyer sorted things out in the NGC, although Steinicke lists NGC 3063 as "Not found". See NGC 3063.
John Herschel made a single observation on 4 Nov 1831 (sweep 382), noting "F; R; 20"; very gradually little brighter middle." The NGC position (from d'Arrest) is accurate.
******************************
09 58 21.1 +32 22 12; Leo
V = 12.1; Size 2.5'x0.9'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 105°
24" (3/28/17): at 260x; fairly bright, moderately large, elongated 5:2 WNW-ESE, brighter elongated central section is mottled and appears to have a sharp light cut-off (dust lane) on the northern flank, the eastern end of the galaxy has a lower surface brightness, probably due to dust. Member of the USGC U268 group.
3C 232 = Ton 469, a distant quasar with a redshift of z = .531 (light-travel time of 5.3 billion years), lies 1.9' due north. It was easily visible at 375x as a very faint mag 16 star. A brighter mag 15 star is 1.4' WSW of the quasar. This QSR was central to another Arp controversy as a “HI finger” or bridge appears to connect the quasar and NGC 3067.
24" (4/20/14): fairly bright, elongated 5:2 WNW-ESE, 1.3'x0.5', contains a large bright core that is very mottled with several very small knots (HII regions and dust on the SDSS). The southeast side of the halo is weaker with an irregular surface brightness. A mag 9.8 star is 3.9' ENE.
17.5" (4/13/91): moderately bright, moderately large, elongated 5:2 WNW-ESE, brighter core bulges but no nucleus, extensions taper towards ends. Located 3.8' WSW of a mag 9.5 star.
8": faint, very elongated ~E-W. A mag 9 star is 4' E.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3067 = H. II-492 = h657 on 7 Dec 1785 (sweep 487) and noted "pB, pL, lE nearly in the parallel." John Herschel made 3 observations and wrote on 6 Mar 1828 (sweep 128), "pB; pL; E in parallel; gradually brighter in the middle; 60" l, 40" br; has a * 10th mag n f."
A total of 15 observations were made at Birr Castle. On 13 Mar 1850, LdR (or assistant George Stoney) noted the following detail: "Longitudinal split visible occasionally, at least in following 2/3. A bright streak seemed to run transversely across neb."
******************************
09 58 40.1 +28 52 39; Leo
V = 14.3; Size 1.1'x0.9'; Surf Br = 14.1
24" (3/28/17): at 260x; fairly faint, fairly small, contains a small bright core, ~15" diameter. The oval halo has a very low surface brightness and appears to extend ~25"x18" E-W.
NGC 3068 is the brighter of a close, interacting pair with NGC 3068 NED1 = PGC 87670 just 36" SE (between centers). The companion was extremely to very faint, round, only 10" diameter at most. Although I couldn't hold this compact galaxy continuously (V = 15.6), it was often visible. There was no sign of a connection between the pair or the long, diffuse tidal tail to the southwest.
17.5" (4/18/98): extremely faint, very small, round, 20" diameter (much smaller than listed dimensions). A mag 12.5 star is 2.8' N. No details were visible (viewed through thin clouds) and the fainter companion 35" SW was not seen.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3068 = H. III-293 on 12 Mar
1785 (sweep 385) and recorded"suspected, eF, eS, stellar. 240 left it
doubtful, but showed the same suspicious nebulous which other stars of equal
size were free from." His
position is 6' N of
******************************
09 57 56.7 +10 25 57; Leo
V = 14.1; Size 0.8'x0.4'; Surf Br = 12.6
13.1" (4/10/86): very faint, very small. Located on a line with
J.L.E. Dreyer discovered NGC 3069 on 15 Mar 1877 as LdR's assistant. While observing NGC 3070 he noted
"5' nnp is an object which I have little doubt is a vF, vS, neb, perhaps
lE. Clouds." At his
separation and direction is
Stephane Javelle independently discovered this galaxy on 22
Mar 1892 and recorded J. 1-175 as "pF, vS, iF". His position is very close north of NGC
3069. CGCG labels this galaxy IC
580, but it is clear NGC 3069 = IC 580.
See Harold Corwin's notes.
In fact, Javelle rediscovered it again on 18 Feb 1904 and included it in
his unpublished 4th catalog as J. 1602.
The position used for his offset star (
******************************
NGC 3070 = UGC 5350 = MCG +02-26-006 = CGCG 064-011 = PGC 28796
09 58 06.9 +10 21 35; Leo
V = 12.3; Size 1.4'x1.4'; Surf Br = 13.1
13.1" (4/10/86): fairly faint, small, round, prominent
core, stellar nucleus. Located 13'
WSW of mag 7.7
William Herschel discovered NGC 3070 = H. II-59 = h659 on 15 Mar 1784 (sweep 172) and recorded "vS, cometic; There is a vB star in the field with it and the nebula is the 4th in a row from the bright star both included; the two stars between are small." John Herschel observed this galaxy in Jan 1828 (sweep 123), "pB; pL; R; gradually brighter in the middle; 40"." Stephane Javelle found it again on 18 Feb 1904, assume it was new due to an error in the position of his offset star, and included it in his unpublished 4th catalog as J. 1603.
******************************
09 58 53.1 +31 37 12; Leo
V = 14.3; Size 0.6'x0.5'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 176°
18" (3/11/07): very faint, extremely small, round, 0.2'
diameter (core region?), very faint stellar nucleus with direct vision. Located 33' SW of 5.4-magnitude 20
Leonis Majoris. Forms a pair with
very compact
Johann Palisa discovered NGC 3071 on 10 Mar 1886 with the
12-inch refractor at Vienna University Observatory. His micrometric position in
AN 2782 matches
******************************
09 57 23.9 -19 21 18; Hya
V = 12.7; Size 1.9'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.7; PA = 71°
17.5" (3/16/96): faint, very elongated WSW-ENE, 1.2'x0.4', very small brighter core.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3072 = H. III-273 = h3206 on 7 Feb 1785 (sweep 368) and noted "eF, vS, irr." His position is within 1' of ESO 566-033 = PGC 28749. John Herschel made two observations at the Cape, logging on sweep 561 "vF; E; gradually little brighter middle; 60" l; 50" br."
******************************
10 00 52.0 +55 37 07; UMa
V = 13.4; Size 1.3'x1.2'; Surf Br = 13.7
17.5" (3/12/88): faint, small, round. Located 10' WSW of
William Herschel discovered NGC 3073 = H. III-853, along
with NGC 3079, on 1 Apr 1790 (sweep 955) and logged "vF, S, very gradually
little brighter middle."
Caroline's reduced position is 8 seconds of RA west of
******************************
09 59 41.2 +35 23 34; LMi
V = 12.7; Size 2.3'x2.1'; Surf Br = 14.2; PA = 145°
17.5" (4/18/98): faint, moderately large, round. Appears as a diffuse, low surface brightness glow, ~1.5' diameter with only a weak concentration to a slightly brighter core. A mag 14.5 star lies 1.9' NE of center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3074 = H. III-542 = h660 on
28 Mar 1786 (sweep 549) and recorded "cF, L, iF. Part of it 5' long and 4' br." Caroline's reduced position is 8 sec of
RA preceding
******************************
09 58 56.2 +14 25 07; Leo
V = 13.6; Size 1.2'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 135°
17.5" (1/23/88): fairly faint, fairly small, oval NW-SE. A mag 14 star is involved at the NNW end 0.6' from center and a mag 15 star is close off the east side 1.5' ESE of center. Located 2.9' NW of a mag 10 star.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3075 = h3207 on 18 Mar 1836 and recorded "vvF; forms an appendage to a star 14 mag; a star 11 mag follows." His position is accurate. This is one of 3 galaxies he discovered that night in Leo.
******************************
09 57 37.6 -18 10 43; Hya
V = 13.1; Size 1.0'x0.9'; Surf Br = 12.8
17.5" (3/16/96): faint, small, round, 35" diameter, even surface brightness. Located 50" S of a mag 13 star.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3076 = h3208 on 12 Feb 1836 and logged "eF, S, R, 15"." His RA is 33 tsec too large.
******************************
10 03 19.1 +68 44 02; UMa
V = 9.9; Size 5.4'x4.5'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 45°
24" (4/20/14): at 260x appeared very bright, very large, oval 4:3 SW-NE, large bright core, gradually increases to a small brighter inner core and occasionally a faint stellar nucleus. The outer halo seems brighter or more extensive on the north-following side and gradually fades, so the periphery has a very low surface brightness. Two similar unequal doubles are in the field: STF 1400 = 8.0/9.8 at 3.4" lies 3.8' NW and STF 1398 = 8.1/11.4 at 3.6" lies 10".
17.5" (3/23/85): fairly bright, fairly large outer halo
elongated SW-NE, increases to brighter core. Mag 7.9
William Herschel discovered NGC 3077 = H. I-286 = h658 on 8 Nov 1801 (sweep 1100). He remarked "very bright, considerably large, round, very gradually much brighter middle. On the north-following side there is a faint ray interrupting the roundness."
Wilhelm Struve independently found NGC 3077 in 1825 or 1826 and included it in his list of 9 "Nebulae dectae" in an appendix to his main catalogue of double stars (∑ 3). John Herschel's position, measured on 28 Oct 1831 (sweep 377) was accurate in declination, but 1 minute of RA too small. On 26 Dec 1873, Birr Castle assistant Ralph Copeland noted "vB, L, R, comet-like with 2 streams of neby towards the south."
******************************
09 58 24.5 -26 55 36; Hya
V = 11.1; Size 2.5'x2.1'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 177°
17.5" (2/28/87): moderately bright, fairly small, very
bright core, slightly elongated halo, stellar nucleus.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3078 = H. II-268 = h3209 on 9 Dec 1784 (sweep 676) and recorded "F, S, R, a bright point in the middle or cometic." John Herschel logged "B, R, gradually much brighter middle, 30"."
******************************
NGC 3079 = UGC 5387 = MCG +09-17-010 = CGCG 266-008 = Holm 156a = PGC 29050
10 01 57.3 +55 40 54; UMa
V = 10.9; Size 7.9'x1.4'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 165°
48" (4/18/15): I made another short observation of this
remarkable asymmetric edge-on at 375x and 488x before observing the Twin
Quasars, which lie 14' NNW. The
brightest portions of this 6:1 edge-on NNW-SSE is warped and bowed out towards
the east in the very bright central section. An intense nucleus is within this
central section, though offset to the east of center. The west side of the central section is irregular in surface
brightness due to dust. The
northern extention thins and has a slight bend on the north end, beyond a mag
14 star. On the south side is a
bright streak, but to the east of this streak and further south the galaxy is
dusty and sections of the galaxy appear to be highly obscured. Two mag 14 stars are off the west side
of the galaxy and mag 9.6
Both components of the Twin Quasars at mag 16.7 and 16.9 were easily visible nearly continuously at 697x. The southern component was clearly slightly brighter, although the delta V is only 0.2. At 6" separation, the pair was relatively widely split.
48" (4/6/13): I only took a quick look at this gorgeous
showpiece edge-on at 375x. The
entire length of the galaxy appeared very mottled, clumpy and dusty, although
there was no distinct dust lane.
The shape is irregular and sharply rises to an intense, very elongated
4:1 core that bulges and appears offset from the geometric center. A mag 14 star is superimposed on the
north side and
18" (3/13/10): fascinating view at 280x. NGC 3079 appeared very bright, edge-on 5:1 NNW-SSE, 7'x1.4'. The galaxy extends a little bit beyond a mag 13 star near the north tip of the galaxy and on the south end the galaxy extends beyond a line drawn between mag 9.6 HD 237858 off the SE end and a mag 13.5 star to the west of the southern extension. Contains a bright elongated 4:1 core, which appears clumpy and mottled with a noticeable irregular surface brightness. The NNW extension is tilted further towards the west than the core, so appears misaligned. In addition, the south extension appears warped or has a missing portion on the eastern side probably due to dust, so the entire galaxy has a bent, very striking asymmetric appearance.
14.5" (4/12/21): at 226x; bright, very elongated up to 5:1 NNW-SSE, ~6'x1.2' with unusual structure. Contains a large, bright central region with a very elongated bright core offset to the east side. The eastern flank of the galaxy is also better defined and noticeably bowed outwards, while the western side is nearly flat, creating an asymmetric appearance. The galaxy tapers on the north end and extends just beyond a mag 13.8 star pinned against the W edge. The southern extension doesn't taper and has a lower surface brightness as if affected by dust.
17.5" (3/12/88): very bright, large, edge-on 6:1
NNW-SSE, bright core. Forms a trio
with NGC 3073 10' WSW and
William Herschel discovered NGC 3079 = H. V-47, along with NGC 3073, on 1 Apr 1790 (sweep 955). He recorded "cB or vB, mE from np to sf, about 8' l and 2' br, very gradually much brighter middle." His position is accurate.
******************************
09 59 55.9 +13 02 37; Leo
V = 14.1; Size 0.9'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.5
17.5" (3/29/97): faint, small, round, 40"
diameter, weak even concentration to a slightly brighter core. A mag 13.5 star lies 2.1' WSW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3080 = H. III-934 on 1 Apr
1794 while observing Uranus, the "Georgian Planet", off the
meridian. The discovery wasn't
recorded in Caroline's revised sweep record, but included in his third
catalogue. His offset from Uranus
of 16 seconds of time preceding and 2' south lands within 1.5' of this galaxy
(using sky-simulation software for the 1794 position of Uranus). Bigourdan noted the NGC position was 12
seconds of RA too large and measured an accurate position (repeated in the IC 2
Notes). A similar situation
occurred with
******************************
09 59 29.5 -22 49 35; Hya
V = 12.0; Size 2.1'x1.6'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 158°
48" (4/18/15): this beautiful resonance ring galaxy was viewed at 488x and 610x. It was very sharply concentrated with a very bright, roundish core (slightly oval at 610x) core that gradually increased to a stellar nucleus. The surface brightness dropped significantly in the inner halo, but then brightened at the edge to a well defined oval ring, extending 5:3 WSW-ENE, 1.3'x0.8'. The ring was fairly narrow and brightened slightly at the ends of the major axis (southwest and northeast ends). This was a very distinctive object! The core itself contains a barred ring, but this feature was not seen.
48" (5/3/19): at 488x; NGC 3081 is one of the most distinctive resonant ring galaxies; it was sharply concentrated with an extremely bright core that appeared roundish, moderately large, gradually intensified further towards the center. The slightly elongated elongated halo displayed a noticeable edge brightening forming a fairly low contrast ring.
17.5" (3/28/87): moderately bright, fairly small, very bright compact core, possible stellar nucleus. The fainter oval halo is extended E-W.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3081 = H. III-596 on 21 Dec 1786 (sweep 660) and recorded "vF, S, little brighter in the middle. South of a triangle of unequal small stars." Caroline's reduced position is 7 seconds of time west of ESO 499-031.
Lewis Swift independently discovered this galaxy on 11 Apr
1898 and recorded it in list XI-103 (later
******************************
09 58 53.0 -30 21 27; Ant
V = 12.5; Size 1.8'x0.7'; Surf Br = 12.5; PA = 26°
17.5" (3/16/96): fairly faint, small, elongated 2:1 SSW-NNE, 0.8'x0.4'. A pleasing pair of mag 13 stars (oriented N-S) is just off the NE end.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3082 = h3210 on 30 Mar 1835 and
recorded "vF, S, R, close to a double star. Requires verifying." His position and description matches
******************************
09 59 49.6 -02 52 40; Sex
V = 13.7; Size 1.0'x0.4'; Surf Br = 12.5; PA = 50°
17.5" (3/16/96): faint, fairly small, elongated 5:2
SW-NE, 0.8'x0.3'. A group of ~10
stars mag 12-14 lies a few arcmin NE.
Located at NW end of
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3083 = m 188 on 22 Jan 1865 and
noted "eF, S, E." His
position matches
******************************
NGC 3084 = ESO 499-029 = MCG -04-24-010 = IC 2528? = LGG 185-004 = PGC 28841
09 59 06.4 -27 07 44; Ant
V = 12.3; Size 1.7'x1.2'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 2°
17.5" (2/28/87): fairly faint, small, round, bright core. A mag 13 star is off the SE end 25" from center. Member of the NGC 3054 group (LGG 185).
John Herschel discovered NGC 3084 = h3211 on 26 Mar 1835 and
recorded "vF, S, R, attached to a star 13m sf." His position and
description matches
Lewis Swift's possibly found this galaxy on 28 Dec 1897 and
recorded Sw. 11-102 as "eeeF; eeS; R; double star south; 3078 in field; ee
diff." His position is 30 sec
of RA west and 3.5' south of NGC 3084 and his description doesn't help (a
single star is attached to the galaxy and a 5" faint unequal pair is 2.5'
SE), so the identification of
******************************
09 59 29.2 -19 29 32; Hya
V = 13.0; Size 1.2'x0.4'; Surf Br = 11.9; PA = 119°
13.1" (4/10/86): faint, very small, elongated
WNW-ESE.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3085 = h3212 on 23 Mar 1835 and
recorded "vF; vS; R. PD
liable to some uncertainty."
His position is 1.5' south of
******************************
10 00 10.9 -02 58 34; Sex
V = 14.0; Size 1.1'x0.4'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 145°
17.5" (3/16/96): very faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1 NW-SE, low even surface brightness. Located 4.8' WSW of NGC 3090 at the west side of the NGC 3090 group.
17.5" (4/4/92): extremely faint, small, round, averted only. Located 5' WSW of NGC 3090 in a group.
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3086 = m 189 on 22 Jan 1865 and
recorded "eF, S, iR." His position matches
******************************
09 59 08.7 -34 13 31; Ant
V = 11.6; Size 2.5'x2.0'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 42°
17.5" (3/28/87): moderately bright, very small, small bright core, fainter halo. Bracketed by two mag 12/13 stars. Member of a poor group (LGG 184).
John Herschel discovered NGC 3087 = h3213 on 2 Feb 1835 and recorded "pB; S; R; pretty much brighter middle; between 2 st 13m." His position is accurate.
Joseph Turner, observing with the 48" Melbourne Telescope on 8 Mar 1878, noted the star directly north [by 1.4' from center] was double. Pietro Baracchi described it as "B; S; R: gradually brighter in the middle; sparkling; resolvable? A star 13m precedes by 5 1/2 sec and is on the same declination."
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10 01 08.4 +22 24 20; Leo
V = 13.7; Size 0.9'x0.8'; Surf Br = 12.0
28" (4/12/18): at 285x;
17.5" (4/9/94): fairly faint, very small, high surface brightness, possibly elongated ~E-W, either a stellar nucleus or a very faint star superimposed. A string of four collinear stars mag 11.5-13.3 is SW; the closest is a mag 12 star 4.8' WSW and the farther two forms a nice wide double (12.4/13.3 at 35"). There is an impression of faint haze off the SE end of galaxy which creates a sense of elongation. On the POSS, this is a double system – the "faint haze" off the SE end is an edge-on galaxy (MCG +04-24-010 = NGC 3088B).
William Herschel discovered NGC 3088 = H. III-24 = h661 on 12 Mar 1784 (sweep 166) and recorded "I suspect a vS nebula. Eyepiece #4 [240x] rather confirmed it, but still left a doubt." His derived RA was 8 seconds too large.
On 16 Feb 1860 from Birr Castle, Samuel Hunter wrote,
"I think there are two wings, spp and sff." These probably refer to the two components, which have
dimensions a) 0.9'x0.8' and b) 0.7'x0.2' and are catalogued separately as MCG
+04-24-010 and
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09 59 36.5 -28 19 53; Ant
V = 12.4; Size 1.8'x1.0'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 139°
17.5" (2/28/87): fairly faint, small, round,
diffuse. Unusual appearance as
four or five faint stars involved, most near the east end. Located 2.2' W of mag 7.9
John Herschel discovered NGC 3089 = h3214 on 5 Feb 1837 and
recorded "pF; R; 60" has 2 or 3 vS stars involved, and a *8 m; 2'
dist, foll[owing." His
position is 1' N of
******************************
NGC 3090 = MCG +00-26-005 = CGCG 008-016 = WBL 248-003 = PGC 28945
10 00 30.2 -02 58 06; Sex
V = 12.6; Size 1.7'x1.4'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 90°
17.5" (3/16/96): fairly faint, small, slightly elongated, 0.5'x0.4' NW-SE, small bright core. Located 34" S of a mag 11 star.
17.5" (4/4/92): fairly faint, small, round, bright core. A mag 10.5 star is at the north edge 33" from center which detracts from viewing. Brightest in a group of six NGC galaxies (MKW 1 = WBL 248) with NGC 3086 5' WSW.
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3090 = m 190 on 22 Jan 1865 and
noted "vF, vS." His
position matches
******************************
NGC 3091 = HCG 42A = ESO 566-041 = MCG -03-26-007 = PGC 28927
10 00 14.1 -19 38 11; Hya
V = 11.1; Size 3.0'x1.9'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 149°
48" (4/1/11): extremely bright, large, oval 4:3
NNW-SSE, ~2.2'x1.5', sharply concentrated with a brilliant core that increases
to the center. Brightest of four
in HCG 42 with two additional fainter galaxies noted in the group (
25" (3/31/19 - OzSky): at 244x; very bright,
fairly large, slightly elongated
NNW-SSE, sharply concentrated with a very bright, very small core and a 2'
halo. HCG 42, just of the NW edge,
appeared nearly moderately bright, small, round, 18" diameter,
quasi-stellar nucleus..
24" (2/9/13): very bright, fairly large, oval 4:3 NNW-SSE, sharply concentrated with a very bright core and a very large fainter halo, extending ~2'x1.5'. HCG 42C, just off NW edge of the halo, appeared moderately bright, fairly small, round, 20" diameter, high surface brightness, brightens to the center.
17.5" (3/28/87): bright, moderately large, very small
bright core, slightly elongated halo NW-SE. A 14th magnitude "star" 1.3' NW is actually the
compact galaxy
13.1" (4/10/86): moderately bright, small, round, very bright core, substellar nucleus, very faint star close NW. Brightest in HCG 42.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3091 = H. II-293 = h3215 on 7 Feb 1785 (sweep 368) and recorded "pB, S, bM, iR." John Herschel called this galaxy "pB; pS; the preceding of two [with NGC 3096].
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10 00 47.4 -03 00 45; Sex
V = 13.3; Size 1.2'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 30°
17.5" (3/16/96): extremely faint, small, elongated 2:1 SSW-NNE, 0.8'x0.4', very low surface brightness. A mag 13 star lies 1.7' SE and a mag 12 star 2' N. Located 5' SE of NGC 3090 in a group.
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3092 = m 191 on 22 Jan 1865 and
noted "eF, S". His
position is 2.5' south of
******************************
NGC 3093 = MCG +00-26-007 = CGCG 008-021 = WBL 248-006 = PGC 28977
10 00 53.5 -02 58 20; Sex
V = 14.2; Size 0.7'x0.3'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 50°
17.5" (3/16/96): faint, extremely small, round, 15" diameter with a hint of a small halo. Located in the NGC 3090 group 5.8' due east of NGC 3090 among a small group of stars. A mag 10.5 star is 2.8' NW, a mag 13 star 2' SE and a mag 12 star 2.2' WSW. NGC 3092 lies 2.9' SW.
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3093 = m 192 on 22 Jan 1865 and
noted "eF, vS". His
position matches
******************************
10 01 26.0 +15 46 13; Leo
V = 12.3; Size 2.0'x1.4'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 75°
17.5" (1/23/88): moderately bright, fairly small,
slightly elongated SW-NE, brighter core.
A mag 10 star is attached at the SE end 0.6' from center. Located 6.2' NNE of mag 7.8
Johann Palisa discovered NGC 3094 on 31 Dec 1885 with the
12-inch refractor at Vienna University Observatory. His micrometric position in AN 2732 matches
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10 00 05.6 -31 33 08; Ant
V = 11.7; Size 3.5'x2.0'; Surf Br = 13.7; PA = 126°
17.5" (3/28/87): fairly bright, moderately large,
elongated 2:1 WNW-ESE. A mag 12
star is off the preceding side 1.0' from the center. Appears brighter on the west end or an extremely faint star
is involved.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3095 = h3216 on 16 Feb 1836,
along with NGC 3100 = h3218, and recorded "F; L; E; very gradually little
brighter middle; 3' l; 2' br."
His position and description applies to
******************************
NGC 3096 = HCG 42B = ESO 566-042 = MCG -03-26-008 = PGC 28950
10 00 33.1 -19 39 43; Hya
V = 13.4; Size 1.0'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 170°
48" (4/1/11): this member of HCG 42 appeared fairly bright, moderately large, oval 4:3, 0.9'x0.7', sharply concentrated with a bright core that increases to a stellar nucleus. A mag 12 star lies 1.5' NE and a mag 10.6 star is 1.8' NW. Forms a pair with fainter PGC 852084 1.3' SW (not included by Hickson). The mag 12 star, NGC 3096, PGC 852084 and a mag 13.8 star are collinear and nearly equally spaced on a 3.7' line oriented NE to SW.
25" (3/31/19 - OzSky): fairly faint, small, elongated 4:3 E-W, 25"x16", fairly high surface brightness, small bright core. Forms the vertex of a right triangle with a mag 11.5 star 1.5' NE and a mag 10.6 star 1.8' NW.
24" (2/9/13): fairly faint to moderately bright, fairly small, elongated 2:1 WSW-ENE, 24"x12" (central bar), very small brighter nucleus. The larger, low surface brightness halo was not seen. Located 1.5' SW of a mag 11.5 star and 1.8' SE of a mag 10.6 star.
17.5" (3/28/87): faint, weak concentration, visible with direct vision. Located 4.7' ESE of NGC 3091 in HCG 42.
13.1" (4/10/86): extremely faint, small, round, requires averted. Located 5' ESE of NGC 3091.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3096 = h3217 on 23 Mar 1835 and
recorded "eF; R; little brighter middle; follows II 293 [NGC 3091]. (Place somewhat uncertain.)" His position is 7 sec of RA east 1.5'
north of
******************************
10 04 18 +60 08; UMa
= Not found, Corwin.
Edward P. Austin discovered NGC 3097 = HN 39 in 1870 at the
Harvard College Observatory with the 15" f/18 Merz refractor (Annals of
Harvard Observatory, Vol 13, 177)
Austin recorded both
RNGC misidentifies NGC 3097 as a duplicate of NGC 3102.
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10 02 16.7 +24 42 40; Leo
V = 12.4; Size 2.3'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.5; PA = 90°
13.1": moderately bright, very elongated 3:1 E-W, brighter core.
8" (4/24/82): faint, small, very elongated E-W.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3098 = h663 on 19 Feb 1827
(sweep 58) and logged "pB; S; mE in parallel; 30" l, 10" br; bM
to nucleus." His position and
description matches
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10 02 36.5 +32 42 25; LMi
V = 14.2; Size 0.9'x0.55'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 146°
17.5" (4/9/94): very faint, small, round, easily held
with direct vision, very weak even concentration down to a slightly brighter
nucleus. A mag 15 star is 2.7'
N. Located 17' WNW of mag 7.6 SAO
61840. Forms a double system with
William Herschel discovered NGC 3099 = H. III-478 = h664 on 7 Dec 1785 (sweep 487) and noted "eF, S, left doubtful." His position is accurate.
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NGC 3100 = NGC 3103 = ESO 435-030 = MCG -05-24-018 = AM 0958-312 = PGC 28960
10 00 40.8 -31 39 52; Ant
V = 11.1; Size 3.2'x1.6'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 154°
48" (5/12/12): very bright, fairly large, oval 5:3 NNW-SSE, ~2.0'x1.2', sharply concentrated with a very bright oval core that gradually increases to the center. Three stars are close following; two mag 10.5/12 stars lie 1.3' E and 1.5' SE, with a closer mag 14 star 0.9' SE of center. We took a look at NGC 3100 because an uncatalogued companion (not found in NED or HyperLeda) is just 0.9' SE. At 488x the companion was easily visible and appeared fairly faint, small, very elongated 3:1 SW-NE, ~21"x7", situated just north of the mag 14 star mentioned above.
17.5" (3/28/87): moderately bright, small, round, bright core. Two mag 10/11.5 stars are 1.3' E and 1.5' SE (30" separation N-S). Brightest in a group with NGC 3095 11' NW and NGC 3108 23' E.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3100 = h3218, along with NGC 3095 = h3216, on 16 Feb 1836 and recorded "pB, R, 30", gradually pretty much brighter middle." His position is accurate.
Lewis Swift probably found
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10 01 35.4 -02 59 40; Sex
V = 14.4; Size 1.0'x0.3'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 150°
18" (3/11/07): very faint, small, elongated ~2:1 NNW-SSE, 0.5'x0.2', very weak concentration. A small group of 4 NGC galaxies with brightest member NGC 3090 lies 10' to 20' W.
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3101 = m 193 on 22 Jan 1865 and
noted "eF". His position
matches
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NGC 3102 = UGC 5418 = MCG +10-15-007 = CGCG 289-030 = CGCG 290-004 = PGC 29220
10 04 31.7 +60 06 29; UMa
V = 13.3; Size 0.8'x0.8'; Surf Br = 12.6
17.5" (3/12/88): fairly faint, very small, round, bright core, faint stellar nucleus. A mag 11 star is 7.0' S.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3102 = H. III-916 = h662 on
9 Apr 1793 (sweep 1039). He recorded "extremely faint, very small, stellar
neb. Near a small star. I wished to see it with a higher power,
but it was too far advanced [to the west]." Caroline's reduced position is 2.4' southwest of
******************************
NGC 3103 = NGC 3100 = ESO 435-030 = MCG -05-24-018 = PGC 28960
10 00 40.8 -31 39 52; Ant
See observing notes for NGC 3100
Lewis Swift discovered NGC 3103 = Sw. 3-53 on 27 Feb 1886 and recorded "eF; pL; R; coarse D * nr p; [NGC 3108] in field. There is nothing at his position, but 50 seconds of time preceding and 1' north is NGC 3100. The coarse double star he mentions, though, follows the galaxy. Herbert Howe examined the field in 1899-00 and reported that Swift "saw 3100, but did not take its place with sufficient accuracy." So, NGC 3100 = NGC 3103, with NGC 3100 the primary designation.
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10 03 57.3 +40 45 25; LMi
V = 13.1; Size 3.3'x2.2'; Surf Br = 15.1; PA = 35°
17.5" (4/18/98): faint, moderately large, ~1.5'-2' diameter although seems irregular in shape. Appears as a low but irregular surface brightness glow with a mag 13 star embedded at the south edge. Unusual appearance and could be mistaken for a reflection nebula around the star. With averted vision a fainter outer halo "grows" at times to 2.5' diameter nearly to a mag 14 star off the NE edge.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3104 = H. IV-48 = h665 on 18
Mar 1787 (sweep 716) and logged "a vF star affected with vF
nebulosity. E from sp to nf about
1' long. With 300 the same."
Caroline's reduced position is 14 sec east of
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10 00 40 -54 47 18; Vel
V = 9.7; Size 2'
24" (4/11/08 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): fairly bright compact cluster of just 2.5' diameter with 15 stars resolved at 200x. Using 350x the total increases to ~20 stars in a 2.5' region. A close unequal double is close west of center. A 25" pair of mag 11.5 stars lies 3' NE. Located 3' NW of a mag 9.6 star and 36' ESE of mag 3.5 Phi Velorum.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3105 = h3219 on 10 Apr 1834 and recorded "a small close clustering knot of stars 13-16 mag; oval; a great train of stars 12..13 mag on the S.p. side." HIs position is an exact match with this small cluster. Trumpler (Lick Obs Bul, Vol 14, No. 420) gives the diameter as 2.5' and the class as 2 2 p.
******************************
10 04 05.2 +31 11 07; LMi
V = 12.4; Size 1.8'x1.8'; Surf Br = 13.5
17.5" (4/9/94): fairly faint, fairly small, round, 1.2' diameter, sharply concentrated with faint halo and abrupt bright nucleus. A mag 13.7 star is 2.7' N of center. Situated almost at the midpoint of a mag 11.5 star 5.3' WNW and a mag 12 star 4.9' ESE.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3106 = H. II-320 = h666 on 13 Mar 1785 (sweep 386) and logged "F, pS, R, little brighter in the middle." John Herschel noted on 27 Jan 1827 (sweep 56), "F; S; R; suddenly much brighter middle; is equal to a * 12m."
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NGC 3107 = UGC 5425 = MCG +02-26-022 = CGCG 064-048 = PGC 29209
10 04 22.4 +13 37 17; Leo
V = 13.4; Size 0.7'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.4; PA = 140°
17.5" (1/23/88): moderately bright, fairly small,
slightly elongated NW-SE. Located
1.8' NW of mag 8.1
William Herschel discovered NGC 3107 = H. II-898 on 22 Mar 1794. It was not found during a sweep but while observing Uranus, which was used as a reference to describe the location. His description in his 3rd catalogue reads, "By coarse estimation. Faint. 3' north of a pretty large red star. This nebula was seen at 8h 49m, sidereal time, the telescope being out of the meridian [observing Uranus]." The observation is not mentioned in Caroline's fair copy of the sweep records. A similar situation occurred on 1 Apr 1794, when he discovered NGC 3080 (III-934) not far from Uranus, and on 4 Mar 1796, when he discovered NGC 3332 while observing Uranus off the meridian.
The listed RA is fairly accurate in the General Catalogue (6 seconds too small), but the dec is ~7' too far south. In the 17 Mar 1876 observation at Birr Castle, the RA is mentioned as 54 seconds too large in the GC (due to a misidentification of a red star close south of the galaxy). Dreyer combined these "offsets" and as a result the RA in the NGC is 48 seconds too large.
UGC, CGCG and MCG don't label their entries for this galaxy as NGC 3107. See Corwin's notes for a complete discussion.
******************************
NGC 3108 = ESO 435-032 = MCG -05-24-019 = AM 1000-312 = LGG 187-002 = PGC 29076
10 02 29.1 -31 40 36; Ant
V = 11.8; Size 2.5'x1.8'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 110°
17.5" (4/9/94): fairly faint, small, elongated 4:3 ~E-W, weakly concentrated. Located 1.5' NE of a mag 10.5 star. Two mag 14 stars are 0.9' NE and 1.1' NW. NGC 3100 lies 23' W.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3108 = h3220 on 28 Jan 1835 and
noted "F; S; R; little brighter middle; 15"." His position (measured on two sweeps)
matches
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10 03 07 -26 09 30; Hya
V = 9.9; Size 19.1'x3.7'; Surf Br = 14.4; PA = 93°
48" (5/4/16): fairly bright, very large, very elongated 6:1 E-W, ~15'x2.5'. Contains a large brighter irregular core region but no nucleus. A mag 12.5 star is superimposed near the center and a number of fainter stars are superimposed. Overall the surface brightness is fairly low but patchy with several very small knots.
Near the southwest edge of the galaxy, 3.9' WSW of the mag 12.5 star, is a faint 12" knot, identified in SIMBAD as [BCP93] F3 H2 from the 1993 paper "The dwarf galaxy NGC 3109. I - The data". A faint 10" knot, listed as [BCP93] F1 H3, is 1.1' NW of the same star and another quasi-stellar knot (perhaps a faint star) is close northwest of the star. Finally, on the southeast flank of the galaxy is a faint larger patch, perhaps 15"-20", catalogued as [BCP93] F5 H1.
14.5" (4/12/21): fairly faint, huge low surface brightness irregular glow, very elongated ~5:1 E-W, ~10'x2'. Very patchy appearance with a slightly brighter central region with no core or nucleus. A mag 13 star is superimposed near the center. Several faint mag 14 stars are either superimposed or nearby and confuse tracing the ragged outline.
17.5" (2/28/87): fairly faint, very large, very elongated 4:1 E-W, diffuse. Appears as a low surface brightness streak with very weak concentration.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3109 = h3221 on 26 Mar 1835 and recorded "vF; vL; 12' l; 2' br; little brighter middle; pos of axis 82.3°. See pl. V. fig 9." His position and description and sketch (Plate V, figure 9) matches this large edge-on.
Joseph Turner sketch NGC 3109 in Feb 1876 with the Great Melbourne Telescope, though his sketch shows the galaxy extending between the four stars off the north edge (which are not involved). A lithograph based on the sketch was never published. While searching for NGC 3109 on 9 Apr 1885 with the GMT, Pietro Baracchi discovered nearby ESO 499-023.
Sidney van den Bergh concluded in his 2000 book "The Galaxies of the Local Group" that NGC 3109 was just outside the Local Group, but other papers assume this galaxy (along with Sextans A, Sextans B and the Antlia dwarf) is at a distance of 4.2-4.4 million light, on the outskirts of the Local Group.
******************************
10 04 02.0 -06 28 29; Sex
V = 12.7; Size 1.8'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 5°
17.5" (3/25/95): fairly faint, fairly small, oval 3:2 NNW-SSE, broad weak concentration. A mag 13.5 star is 40" NW of center and a mag 14 star lies 1.7' S.
Forms a close (interacting) pair with
Édouard Stephan independently discovered NGC 3110 = St. 13-54 on 13 Mar 1874, recording a rough position 4' too far W. His published position (list 13, #54) was made 10 years later on 17 Mar 1884, with Emmanuel Esmiol's re-reduced position accurate to within a few arcseconds.
William Herschel made the original discovery (H. II-305 = NGC 3122) on 5 Mar
1785. The GC and NGC positions are
incorrect, though, as Herschel's position was reduced using the wrong offset
star. When corrected, H. II-305 is
an exact match with NGC 3110.
Based on historical precedence,
This galaxy was found again by Ormond Stone (list I, #182)
on 31 Dec 1885. But Stone made a 1
hour error in RA (confirmed by Corwin on Stone's discovery sketch). Dreyer assumed this was a new object,
so it was also catalogued as
******************************
10 06 07.4 +47 15 45; UMa
V = 13.0; Size 0.9'x0.8'; Surf Br = 12.5
17.5" (4/15/99): fairly faint, fairly small, round, 0.8' diameter. Weak concentration to center, very faint stellar nucleus at moments. Forms eastern vertex of an equilateral triangle with two mag 11/11.5 stars 4.3' SW and 4.0' NW.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3111 = h667 on 17 Mar 1828
(sweep 138) and noted "pB; R; suddenly much brighter middle;
20"." His mean position
from 3 sweeps matches
******************************
10 03 59.0 -20 46 56; Hya
V = 15.1; Size 1.1'x0.2'; Surf Br = 13.7; PA = 47°
24" (2/22/14): extremely faint and small, round, 10" diameter. Although only visible part of the time, the observation was confirmed. Confusing the observation is a mag 16 star 40" NW that was slightly easier to view than the galaxy and it was difficult to view both objects simultaneously.
Ormond Stone discovered NGC 3112 = LM 1-163 in 1886 with the
26" refractor at Leander McCormick Observatory. His rough position (nearest minute of RA) is only 2.7' east
of
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10 04 26.2 -28 26 36; Ant
V = 12.7; Size 3.3'x1.2'; Surf Br = 14.1; PA = 87°
17.5" (4/15/99): this galaxy was surprisingly difficult
due to clouds low in the south obscuring the view. Appeared extremely faint, small, round, required averted
vision. Viewed only the core of
this galaxy as appeared no more than 40" in size [described as 3' diameter
by John Herschel]. Forms an obtuse
angle with mag 7.5
John Herschel discovered NGC 3113 = h3222 on 5 Feb 1837 and
recorded "eF, L, 3'; makes an obtuse angled triangle, with 2 stars 8 mag;
one nearly on the parallel, the other nearly north." His position and description matches
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10 02 30 -60 07 48; Car
V = 4.2; Size 35'
18" (7/8/02 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): this
very bright naked-eye cluster measured some 35'-40' and was beautifully framed
in a 50' field with the 27mm Panoptic.
The cluster contains a couple of long curving chains of brighter stars,
one forming a huge "U" shaped arc. There are several pretty smaller groupings and star chains
including a striking equilateral triangle of nearly equal mag stars just north
of center, consisting of mag 9.2/9.4/10 stars at
20"/22"/27". Two
mag 6-7 stars (brightest mag 6.2
Naked-eye and 10x30mm Canon IS (3/28/19 - Tasmania): very bright naked-eye cluster only 5° W of Eta Carinae. At least 3 dozen stars were resolved at only 10x in the 30mm binoculars!
James Dunlop discovered NGC 3114 = D 297 = h3224 on 8 May 1826. He described (single observation) "a beautiful cluster of stars, arranged in curvilinear lines intersecting each other, about 40' diameter, extended S.p., and N.f." This is the brightest cluster that Dunlop discovered - surprising that Lacaille missed it during his observations at the Cape of Good Hope.
On 4 Feb 1835 (sweep 543), John Herschel noted "an enormous congeries or clustering region of stars 2 or 3 fields in diameter, constituting a decided cluster. Stars 9..14th mag, the larger magnitudes predominating. There must be many hundreds." He wrote in his diary that "the night being most superb - the mirror billiant and the zone swept the richest perhaps in the heavens - attained the sublime of Astronomy - a sort of ne plus ultra".
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10 05 14.1 -07 43 07; Sex
V = 8.9; Size 7.2'x2.5'; Surf Br = 11.9; PA = 43°
48" (2/19/12): this showpiece galaxy was stunning at 287x and 375x, with a very high surface brightness halo, ~5.5'x2', which is punctuated by a brilliant, nearly stellar nucleus. The nucleus is centered within an extremely bright, very flattened core extending 1'-1.5'. This dazzling streak dims slightly outside the central region but stretches at least 2.5' along the major axis with no breaks or significant drops in surface brightness. The view of this thin, super-luminous central disc bisecting most of the outer, elongated halo was a unique sight.
UGCA 200, a faint dwarf galaxy, lies 5.7' SE. At 375x it appeared as a faint low surface brightness patch with averted vision, slightly elongated NNW-SSE, with no central concentration. The galaxy is situated within a triangle formed by a mag 11.2 star 1.7' SE, a mag 15.3 star 1.5' NW and a mag 13.8 star 2' ENE.
18" (2/23/06): at 257x the Spindle galaxy is a gorgeous high surface brightness edge-on, ~5'x1'. Contains a small, very intense elongated core that increases to a dramatic quasi-stellar nucleus.
17.5" (1/31/87): very bright, fairly large, edge-on spindle
3:1 SW-NE, 5.5'x1.8'. Unusually
high surface brightness, bright core, stellar nucleus. A mag 12.5 star is 3.2' S of center and
a mag 10.5 star is 8' E.
13.1" (3/24/84): stunning edge-on, very bright, small very bright core.
8" (3/24/84): very bright, high surface brightness, very bright core.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3115 = H. I-163 = h668 = h3223 on 22 Feb 1787 (sweep 704). His description reads, "extremely bright, considerably large, much extended 45° sp to nf. The bright part about 2' long with very faint branches extending in all, to 4 or 5'."
On 14 Mar 1828 (sweep 136), John Herschel wrote, "vB; L; mE; very suddenly much brighter middle; almost to a nucl; 3' l, 30" br. With 12-inches aperture, its nucleus is rather speckled; with 6-inch it is barely discernible as a nebula." Lord Rosse observed NGC 3115 on 11 Mar 1848 (one of the earliest observations). In 1861 the assistant questioned if "Is Nucl. resolvable and oblong?"
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10 06 45.1 +31 05 51; LMi
V = 14.4; Size 0.3'x0.3'; Surf Br = 11.6
18" (1/20/07): faint, very small, round, 15"
diameter, compact appearance with a well-defined halo, brightens slightly to a
faint stellar nucleus. A triangle
of mag 12 stars lies 5' SE (one star is 14" double with a mag 13.5
companion). Located 10' SE of mag
8.2
Johann Palisa discovered NGC 3116 on 10 Mar 1886 with the 12-inch refractor at Vienna University Observatory and reported it in AN 2782. His micrometric position is accurate.
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10 06 10.5 +02 54 46; Sex
V = 13.4; Size 0.9'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.0
17.5" (3/25/95): faint, small, round, 30"
diameter, weak concentration to a very small brighter core. A pretty mag 9.5/11 double star at
18" separation lies 8' NNW.
Located 6' NW of mag 8.8
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3117 = St. 9-21 on 9 Feb 1877 and logged "eF, eS, R, stellar nucleus." His published position (measured on 15 Mar) is accurate.
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10 07 11.6 +33 01 39; LMi
V = 13.5; Size 2.5'x0.4'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 41°
17.5" (4/25/92): very faint, fairly small, edge-on 5:1 SW-NE, 1.5'x0.3', very low almost even surface brightness. Member of the USGC U268 group.
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3118 = St. 13-55 on 16 Mar 1882 and recorded a "small group of very faint stars in very faint nebulosity."
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10 06 47.9 +14 18 51; Leo
V = 14.5; Size 0.5'x0.4'; Surf Br = 15.1
17.5" (1/23/88): extremely faint, very small,
round. Located 4' SSW of NGC
3121. Forms the SE vertex of an
equilateral triangle with
The identification of NGC 3119 is uncertain and it may be a duplicate observation of brighter NGC 3121 instead.
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3119 = m 194 on 14 Dec 1863 and
simply noted "vF". His
position is 2.3' north of
RNGC identifies CGCG 093-045 as NGC 3119 but MCG identifies
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10 05 22.9 -34 13 13; Ant
V = 12.8; Size 1.8'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 1°
17.5" (4/1/00): fairly faint, moderately large, 1.0'
diameter, slightly elongated, weakly concentrated. A 20" pair of mag 12.5/13.5 stars are off the NW side
2' from center. A brighter pair of
stars is ~4' SW and the galaxy is nearly collinear with both pairs. A mag 9.5 star (
John Herschel discovered NGC 3120 = h3225 on 22 Jan 1838
(his last sweep at the Cape of Good Hope) and noted "F, R, gradually
brighter in the middle, 40"." His position is an exact match
with
******************************
NGC 3121 = UGC 5450 = MCG +03-26-027 = CGCG 093-046 = PGC 29387
10 06 51.9 +14 22 26; Leo
V = 12.6; Size 1.7'x1.4'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 20°
17.5" (1/23/88): fairly faint, small, slightly elongated SSW-NNE. A mag 13.5 star is 3.6' W and a mag 10 star 5.5' NW. Forms a pair with NGC 3119 4' SSW.
William Lassell discovered NGC 3121 on 31 Mar 1848 with his 24" reflector at Starfield Observatory near Liverpool, England. He found this galaxy while observing Comet Mauvais 1847 IV ("almost in the field at the same time as the Comet") and reported the discovery in AN 27 [635], 171 (1848). Using the 6" Heliometer at Königsberg, Auwers described it as "faint, 1.5' diam, * 9-10m 4' north, 14-15 seconds preceding" and included it as #26 in his 1862 list of new nebulae. MCG labels this galaxy NGC 3119, though that number may also apply to this galaxy.
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NGC 3122 = NGC 3110 = NGC 3518 = MCG -01-26-014 = PGC 29361
10 04 02.0 -06 28 29; Sex
V = 12.7; Size 1.8'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 5°
See observing notes for NGC 3110.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3122 = H. II-305 on 5 Mar 1785 (sweep 379) and logged "F, S, lE, easily resolvable." He failed to find it again on 22 Feb 1787 (sweep 704) as he had confused the offset star on the first observation. As a result the GC and NGC position are about 36' too far ESE.
Édouard Stephan independently found this galaxy on 13 Mar 1874. His published position (list 13, #54), made on 16 Mar 1884, was 1' too far north. Dreyer assumed it was new and catalogued it again as NGC 3110 though he corrected the position in his 1912 revision of William Herschel's catalogues and stated NGC 3122 = NGC 3110. This galaxy was also found by Ormond Stone at Leander McCormick Observatory on 31 Dec 1885 (reported in list LM 1-182) and later catalogued as NGC 3518. Harold Corwin discovered that Stone's position was off by 1 hr in RA. So, NGC 3122 = NGC 3110 = NGC 3518.
RNGC and PGC misidentify
******************************
10 18 11.9 +00 02 25; Sex
= *, Gottlieb. =Not found, Corwin and Carlson.
Sidney Coolidge discovered NGC 3123 = HN 15 on 31 Mar 1859 and simply noted as a "nebulous object" by Bond (director of the Harvard Observatory) in AN #1453. There are no nonstellar objects in the vicinity of the listed position, given roughly as 9 59 48 +/- 4s, +0 45' +/- 2' for 1859. That's not unusual as all 8 of Coolidge's other nebulous objects are single or multiple stars. Bigourdan, Reinmuth or Carlson were unable to find his object and RNGC classifies the number as nonexistent. Harold Corwin lists a few possible candidates (stars) near Coolidge's position.
But in March 2015 I took a look at the Zone Catalogue (volume 6 from HCO, page 4-5) and found the number derived from star #47 (preceding #57 = NGC 3229), in which Coolidge noted "has a perceptible disc?" Furthermore, #47 was measured in Zone 117 but not Zone 118, so the position was not confirmed. The only problem is the dec for entry #47 fits the range given by Bond but not the RA, though perhaps he made a copying mistake. Assuming Coolidge's single position is Zone 117 is accurate, then NGC 3123 refers to a single star at 10 18 11.9 +00 02 25 (J2000).
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10 06 40.0 -19 13 21; Hya
V = 12.1; Size 3.0'x2.5'; Surf Br = 14.2; PA = 165°
17.5" (4/9/94): fairly faint, fairly large, round, 2.5' diameter, diffuse, very weak broad concentration. A mag 13.5 star is 2.4' N of center. A pleasing double star, South 607 = 8.8/10.0 at 9.5" lies 5' S.
17.5" (3/28/87): moderately bright, very large, diffuse, broad concentration, no nucleus.
13.1" (4/10/86): faint, large, very diffuse, weak concentration, no nucleus, lies 4' N of double star S607 8.5/9.5 at 9".
John Herschel discovered NGC 3124 = h3226 on 23 Mar 1835 and
recorded "F, L, R, little brighter middle, has a fine double star exactly
south." His description and
position clearly apply to
NGC 3124 was probably first photographed by DeLisle Stewart at Harvard's Arequipa Station between 1898 and 1901 and noted as "possibly a ring nebula.". It was photographed a couple of times at the Helwan Observatory with the 30" Reynolds reflector and an image taken between 1914-16 revealed an "open spiral" of size 2' x 2'.
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10 06 33.1 -29 56 08; Ant
V = 13.0; Size 1.1'x0.7'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 114°
17.5" (3/28/87): fairly faint, small, roundish, brighter core. NGC 3125 is a nearby blue compact dwarf galaxy. Member of the NGC 3125 group (LGG 189).
John Herschel discovered NGC 3125 = h3227 on 30 Mar 1835 and
noted "F; R: gradually brighter in the middle; 20"." His mean position from two observations
matches
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10 08 20.8 +31 51 47; LMi
V = 12.8; Size 2.8'x0.5'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 123°
17.5" (4/9/94): fairly faint, moderately large, edge-on
5:1 WNW-ESE, 2.0'x0.4', faint thin arms, fairly well-defined round core. A mag 11 star is 4.7' N of center. Located 15' N of mag 6.2
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3126 on 30 Apr 1864 and
recorded "F, S, not lE, mag 15 nucleus. Confirmation still needed." This was his only
observation, but his position matches
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10 06 24.8 -16 07 34; Hya
V = 13.8; Size 1.2'x0.2'; Surf Br = 12.1; PA = 55°
18" (4/10/04): very faint, very small, very elongated
3:1 SW-NE, 24"x8", weak concentration. The extensions appear to fade at the tips. Situated near the
midpoint of a mag 10 star 1.6' SE and a mag 12.5 star 1.1' NW. Forms a pair with brighter
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3127 = LM 1-164, along
with NGC 3128, on 1 Jan 1886 and noted "mag 16.0, 1.6'x0.7', vE
45°." His rough position
(nearest min of RA) is ~1 tmin east of
******************************
NGC 3128 = MCG -03-26-020 = KTS 38A = PGC 29330
10 06 01.4 -16 07 19; Hya
V = 13.5; Size 1.6'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 174°
18" (4/10/04): faint, fairly small, elongated 3:2 N-S, 0.8'x0.5'. The surface brightness appears irregular with a broadly concentrated core. The extensions are more difficult and require averted vision and seem patchy or knotty. Forms a pair with NGC 3127 5.6' E.
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3128 = LM 1-165, along
with NGC 3127, on 1 Jan 1886 and noted "mag 16.0, 1.3'x0.7', vE
170°." His rough RA (nearest
minute of time) is 1.3 minutes east of
******************************
10 08 19.2 +18 25 51; Leo
= **, Corwin
William Herschel discovered NGC 3129 = H. III-35 = h669 on 21 Mar 1784 (sweep 181) and recorded "vS, elongated, resolvable. 240x showed it better than 157x." There is nothing near his position besides stars. John Herschel made an observation on 13 Mar 1831 (sweep 332): "eF; S; R. Forms a triangle with 2 stars." He only gave a very rough position from his working list, which was based on Caroline's Zone Catalogue.
It was searched for unsuccessfully at Birr Castle on 3 attempts and was not found by Reinmuth on Heidelberg plate in his photographic survey. No modern catalogue has a listing for NGC 3129. Harold Corwin identifies NGC 3129 as a double star (13" pair of mag 14 stars) at WH's position. There are two stars to the east, which form the vertex of a triangle (as in JH's description).
******************************
10 08 12.3 +09 58 37; Leo
V = 13.4; Size 1.0'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 30°
13.1" (4/10/86): fairly faint, small, round, weak concentration. The visibility of this galaxy is hindered by by the glare of 31 Leonis (V = 4.6) just 4.7' WNW.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3130 = h670 on 19 Jan 1828
(sweep 123) and recorded "eF; S; pretty suddenly brighter middle; follows
31 Leonis 16.5s, and is 1' 40" south of it." His position and description clearly
applies to
******************************
10 08 36.5 +18 13 52; Leo
V = 13.0; Size 2.4'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 54°
17.5" (3/29/97): fairly faint, moderately large, very elongated 7:2 SW-NE, 2.0'x0.6', broad concentration. The major axis is bracketed by two mag 13.5 stars 1.7' SSE and 3.1' N.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3131 = h671 on 17 Mar 1831 (sweep 334) and recorded "pB; pmE; gradually brighter in the middle; 40" l and 20" br. Found in looking for III. 65 by working list [based on Caroline's Zone Catalogue, prepared for his sweeps]."
R.J. Mitchell, Lord Rosse's assistant on 10 Jan 1856, suspected a knot in the preceding end.
******************************
10 07 01.8 -40 26 11; Vel
V = 9.7; Size 62"x43"
13.1" (2/17/04 - Costa Rica): at 40° elevation in Costa Rica along the Gulf of Nicoya , NGC 3132 was quite beautiful at 200x and 260x. The 10th magnitude "central star" (an unseen 16th mag companion at 1.65" separation is the true ionizing star) is embedded in the center of a very bright, elongated annulus with a darker center and interesting outer ring elongated NW-SE. The oval ring is relatively narrow with a brighter outer rim. Surrounding the ring is a faint, thin outer shell. The ring is slightly offset in orientation to the major axis of the planetary giving a complex multi-ring appearance.
17.5" (3/28/87): very bright, moderately large, oval. A dark ring surrounds the bright mag 10 central star. Viewed at only 10°-11° elevation.
13.1" (2/23/85): darker around the central star at high power.
8" (3/28/81): mag 9 central star surrounded by a fairly bright, moderately large disc, striking.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3132 = h3228 on 2 Mar 1835 and recorded "Planetary nebula, very large, very bright, elliptic; has in it a 9th mag star somewhat excentric. Its light is exactly equable, ie. not increasing towards the middle; yet I cannot help imagining it to be closely dotted. It is just like a star out of focus in certain states of the mirror and atmosphere. Three stars near, a = 9th mag; b = 9th mag; c = 14th mag; A very extraordinary object." On a later observation he logged, "Planetary nebula with a 10th mag star in centre; very bright; very well defined, and perfectly equable all over in light, there being no condensation up to the centre. The star is sharp, the nebula velvety, or like infinitely fine dust; a star 14th mag at a distance rather more than a radius of neb from edge (by diagram); has its position from centre = 333.8°." Sketch on Plate VI, figure 9.
Herschel sketched NGC 3132 and other planetary nebulae from the Cape of Good Hope, commenting: "[these] represent planetary nebulae, a class of special interest, and of which, considering their general rarity, the southern heavens have afforded a rather unexpectedly large harvest. Those only are here delineated which have either accompanying stars, or which are distinguished by some peculiarity, as ... [NGC 3132] which has a star or a small disc near its centre". He was clearly impressed as the next night he showed to Thomas Maclear, Astronomer Royal at the Cape, and observed it on his very last sweep at the Cape on 22 Jan 1838.
Father Angelo Secchi published a sketch (fig. 16) and
description in 1856 using the 9.6" refractor in Rome. He called it a "beautiful and
large ring nebula similar to that of the Hydra [
In 1868, Lieutenant John Herschel, son of John Herschel, reported NGC 3132 displayed an emission line in an early spectroscopic investigation while he was stationed in Bangalore, India.
The first photograph was probably taken at the Helwan Observatory in 1909-1911 with the 30" Reynolds reflector. Knox-Shaw described it as "annular rather than planetary, but the inside of the ring is almost filled by the image of the central star. Lassell's drawings are good." On a later photograph he reported "vB, pS, lE 150° ±, annular, ring fainter on up side. B star not quite central, and thus probably unconnected."
In "Southern Gems", Stephen O'Meara states James Dunlop discovered NGC 3132 while making observations for the 1826 Brisbane Star Catalogue (published in 1835). In a footnote to #3085 he noted "Dusky Yellow - a fine Planetary disk." John Herschel recognized Dunlop's observation in a letter to Thomas Maclear in 1835.
A star (
The nickname "Eight Burst Nebula" was coined by Harlow Shapley and John S. Paraskevopoulos in "Photographs of Thirty Southern Nebula and Clusters" (1940PNAS...26...31S). Based on a series of photographs of NGC 3132 taken with the 60" reflector (mirror from Andrew Ainslie Common) at the Boyden station in Bloemfontein, South Africa, they wrote: "A series of photographs of varying exposures would be necessary to bring out the intricate details…. It could well be named the "8-burst" planetary from the number of distinct arcs on the boundary of the main disk or shell".
******************************
10 07 12.8 -11 57 55; Hya
V = 14.5; Size 0.6'x0.3'; Surf Br = 12.5; PA = 25°
18" (4/10/04): extremely faint, small, 0.4'x0.3'. Visible less than 50% of the time with averted vision so orientation difficult to determine but I was certain of the sighting. Located 5' NE of a mag 10.4 star.
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3133 = LM 2-419 in
1886. He noted "mag 16.2,
0.2' dia, R." There is
nothing at his position but 1 min 18 sec of RA west is
******************************
10 12 29.2 +12 22 37; Leo
V = 13.9; Size 1.2'x0.3'; Surf Br = 12.5; PA = 51°
24" (4/15/23): at 327x; fairly faint (easily visible), contains a very small high surface brightness core/nucleus with faint thin extensions SW-NE, 45"x15".
17.5" (3/29/97): faint, very small, consists of a 15" core with a faint very thin extension to the SW. The corresponding arm to the NE was not seen, so the appearance is asymmetric. Leo I lies 1° W.
This galaxy (discovered by David Todd) is listed as nonexistent in RNGC and is not identified as NGC 3134 in the MCG or CGCG.
David Todd discovered NGC 3134 = Todd 21 on 6 Feb 1878
during his search for a trans-Neptunian planet. Based on Todd's sketch Corwin identified
******************************
10 10 54.4 +45 57 01; UMa
V = 13.4; Size 0.9'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.5; PA = 90°
17.5" (4/15/99): faint, fairly small, elongated 3:2 E-W, 0.8'x0.5', little or no concentration. Bracketed by two mag 12.5 stars 2.2' E and 2.1' NW.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3135 = h672 on 19 Mar 1828
(sweep 139) and noted "F; R: gradually brighter in the middle;
25"." His position
matches
******************************
10 05 48.0 -67 22 41; Car
V = 10.7; Size 3.1'x2.1'; Surf Br = 12.7; PA = 30°
24" (4/4/08 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): at
260x; bright, moderately large, eloongated 3:2 SW-NE. Sharp concentration with a small, intense core that
brightens to the center. The
fainter extensions from the core appear irregular.
18" (7/8/02 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): at 171x this Carina galaxy appeared moderately bright and large, elongated 3:2 SW-NE, 1.5'x0.75'. Sharply concentrated with a small, bright, roundish core increasing to an occasional stellar nucleus. A mag 13 star is close north.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3136 = h3229 = h3231 on 30 Jan
1835 and noted "B; R; bM; place only a very rude approximation." In an errata list and the end of the
Cape Catalogue, JH corrected the NPD by 2° so it nearly matches h3231, whose
position was accurately measured twice and matches
******************************
10 09 07.5 -29 03 52; Ant
V = 11.5; Size 6.3'x2.2'; Surf Br = 14.2; PA = 1°
18" (3/5/05): faint, large, elongated at least 5:2 N-S,
3.0'x1.2', fairly low surface brightness.
Broad, weak concentration in poor seeing. A mag 12 star is on the west side (0.3' from the geometric
center). Located 7' SE of mag 9.4
John Herschel discovered NGC 3137 = h3230 on 5 Feb 1837 NGC
3137 and recorded "vF; lE; 25"." His position is 16 sec of RA west of
******************************
NGC 3138 = MCG -02-26-032 = PGC 29532
10 09 16.7 -11 57 24; Hya
V = 14.8; Size 1.2'x0.4'; Surf Br = 13.8; PA = 80°
18" (4/14/12): at 225x appeared extremely faint, very
small, slightly elongated, 15" diameter. Required averted vision to just momentarily pop occasionally
but held for a few seconds a couple of times. I did not notice an elongated shape, so probably just viewed
the core though the object was well past the meridian. Located 6.4' SW of mag 7.4
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3138 = LM 2-420 and noted
"mag 16.0, 0.1', R, 1st of 2 [with
******************************
NGC 3139 = MCG -02-26-034 = PGC 29583
10 10 05.2 -11 46 42; Hya
V = 13.5; Size 1.4'x1.2'; Surf Br = 13.9; PA = 75°
18" (4/10/04): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 3:2, 0.8'x0.5'. Broad concentration to a small, round 15" core and an occasional faint, stellar nucleus with direct vision.
17.5" (2/22/03): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated
~4:3 WSW-ENE, 0.7'x0.5', broadly concentrated. Located 10' NE of mag 7.4
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3139 = LM 2-421 and noted
"mag 15.60, 0.1', R, 2nd of 2 [with NGC 3138]." His rough position (nearest min of RA)
is 0.7 min of RA west of
******************************
10 09 27.7 -16 37 41; Hya
V = 14.0; Size 0.9'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.5
17.5" (2/22/03): slightly brighter and larger of a
close pair with NGC 3140 2.4' SW.
Faint, small, slightly elongated, 0.5'x0.4', stellar nucleus with direct
vision. Although following NGC
3141, Leavenworth listed this object first (identical coordinates) and his
description indicates it is the brighter of the pair, so the NGC numbers are
reversed in right ascension.
Located at the east edge of the rich cluster
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3140 = LM 1-166 (along
with I-167 = NGC 3141) on 1 Jan 1886 with the 26" refractor at the
Leander-McCormick Observatory.
Although he gave a single rough position for both objects, LM 1-166 is
mag 15.5 and 0.5', while LM 1-167 is mag 16.0 and 0.3' dia. His position falls
very close to the pair
According to Harold Corwin, Leavenworth's sketch clearly
shows that NGC 3140 = PGC 29548 is the brighter galaxy to the northeast and the
fainter galaxy to the southwest is
******************************
10 09 19.8 -16 39 12; Hya
V = 15.4; Size 0.5'x0.3'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 26°
17.5" (2/22/03): smaller and slightly fainter of a pair of galaxies with NGC 3140 2.4' NE. Very faint, small, slightly elongated 0.4'x0.3', faint stellar nucleus. Incorrectly equated with NGC 3140 in the RNGC.
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3140 = LM 1-167 (along with I-166 = NGC 3140) on 1 Jan 1886 with the 26" refractor at the Leander-McCormick Observatory. Although he gave a single rough position for both objects, LM 1-166 is mag 15.5 and 0.5', while LM 1-167 is mag 16.0 and 0.3' dia. His position falls very close to the pair PGC 29548 and PGC 29544 (separation 2.5' SW to NE).
Based on the discovery sketch (examined by Harold Corwin), Dreyer incorrectly assumed that the brighter galaxy to the northeast was NGC 3140 and added "first of two" (listed first in the discovery paper) so the order of RA was reversed in the NGC. The RNGC erroneously states NGC 3141 = NGC 3140. See Corwin's identification summaries for more.
******************************
10 10 06.4 -08 28 48; Sex
V = 13.3; Size 1.2'x1.2'; Surf Br = 13.5
17.5" (4/9/94): faint, very small, round, brighter core. Overpowered by 17 Sextantis (V = 5.9) 4.3' N. A second bright star 18 Sextantis (V = 5.6) lies 12.8' ENE.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3142 = h3232 on 5 May 1836 and
recorded "F; very suddenly brighter in the middle to a * 16m; diam 1' or 1
1/2'; sp the star g Sextantis, which occasioned its being taken by mistake for
Halley's Comet, and the consequent loss of that comet." His position matches
******************************
10 10 04.0 -12 34 53; Hya
V = 14.3; Size 0.8'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 105°
18" (4/10/04): very faint, very small, irregularly
round, 25"x20", weak concentration. Can just hold steadily. Fors the vertex of an obtuse isosceles triangle with two mag
11.5 stars 5.7' N and a similar distance SE. Also situated 9' S of
Ainslie Common discovered NGC 3143 in 1880 with the 36-inch
f/5.9 reflector at Ealing, UK. He
noted "S, F, just S of GC 2023 [NGC 3145]. Herbert Howe's corrected position in the IC 2 notes matches
******************************
10 15 32.0 +74 13 14; Dra
V = 13.4; Size 1.2'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 0°
17.5" (1/28/89): faint, very small, oval N-S. A mag 13 star is attached at the east
end. Forms a pair with
Heinrich d'Arrest found NGC 3144 on 25 Sep 1865 with the
11" refractor at Copenhagen.
His position (measured on 2 nights) is fairly close to
William Herschel discovered this galaxy on 2 Apr 1801 (problematic sweep 1096), though the identity of III. 964 = NGC 3174 wasn't established until 1911. So, NGC 3144 = NGC 3174 (see notes).
******************************
NGC 3145 = MCG -02-26-036 = PGC 29591
10 10 10.0 -12 26 02; Hya
V = 11.7; Size 3.1'x1.6'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 20°
13.1" (3/24/84): fairly faint, fairly small, nearly round, weak concentration. Overpowered by the glare of Lambda Hydrae (V = 3.6) 8' NE.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3145 = H. III-518 = h673 on 19 Mar 1786 (sweep 541). He noted "very faint, small, round, 7 or 8' south preceding Lambda Hydra." On 7 Mar 1791 (sweep 997) he called it "F, pL, irregularly round, very gradually much brighter middle, in the field with Lambda Hydrae."
In a note to 8th discovery list at Lowe Observatory, Swift "corrected" the position 7' too far NNW! Furthermore, Swift placed the star Lambda to the northwest, insteast of to its NE. Finally, he commented it was strange the bright star was not mentioned by Herschel, though it was Dreyer who left this off the NGC summary description.
******************************
10 11 09.9 -20 52 14; Hya
V = 13.1; Size 1.0'x0.9'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 100°
18" (4/10/04): moderately bright, fairly small, round,
0.8' diameter, increases to a 15" bright core and a quasi-stellar
nucleus. The edge of the halo is
well-defined. Located 3.9' S of
mag 8.9
Ormond Stone discovered NGC 3146 = LM 1-168 in 1886 with the
26" refractor at Leander McCormick Observatory. His rough position (nearest min of RA) is coincidentally a
near match with
******************************
10 16 53.5 +73 24 02; Dra
V = 10.6; Size 3.9'x3.5'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 155°
17.5" (2/8/91): bright, fairly large, slightly elongated 4:3 NW-SE. Contains a very bright core with a stellar nucleus. There is an impression of a dust lane to the west of the core.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3147 = H. I-79 = h674 on 3 Apr 1785 (sweep 390). He noted "cB, pL, R, mbM. The brightness decreasing very gradually." John Herschel observed it on 4 Nov 1831 (sweep 382): "vB; L; R; at first very gradually, then very suddenly, very small bright middle."
******************************
10 13 43.8 +50 29 47; UMa
V = 6.6
= *6.6 = SAO 27566.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3148 = h675 on 17 Feb 1831
(sweep 328) and noted "a star 7m has a photosphere 2 or 3' diam. Sky perfectly clear; glass quite clear;
windy. Another star of same
magnitude viewed presently after has no photosphere." Herschel's description applies to mag
6.6
RNGC and MCG misidentify
******************************
10 03 44.5 -80 25 19; Cha
V = 12.5; Size 2.0'x1.9'; Surf Br = 13.8
24" (4/4/08 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): this
galaxy is located just 30' NNW of the bright planetary
John Herschel discovered NGC 3149 = h3234 on 24 Feb 1835
(along with planetary nebula NGC 3195) and recorded "F; lE; very little
brighter middle; 25"; has a * 15m in it." Although position is an exact match with
******************************
10 13 26.3 +38 39 27; LMi
V = 14.6; Size 0.8'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.8
18" (2/19/09): very faint, small, round, 24"
diameter, low surface brightness, very weak concentration. Located 2.3' NNW of
17.5" (3/23/85): faint, small, slightly lower surface brightness than NGC 3151 2.3' S. A mag 12 star is 2.0' WSW and a mag 14 star is 1.8' NNW. Located within the NGC 3158 group.
Guillaume Bigourdan discovered NGC 3150 = Big. 40, along
with NGCs 3151, 3159 and 3161, on 1 Feb 1886 in the NGC 3158 group. His position matches
******************************
NGC 3151 = MCG +07-21-018 = CGCG 211-020 = Holm 170a = WBL 258-003 = PGC 29796
10 13 29.1 +38 37 11; LMi
V = 13.8; Size 0.8'x0.5'; Surf Br = 12.7; PA = 170°
18" (2/19/09): faint, small, slightly elongated,
20"x15", very small brighter core. Located 2' SW of a mag 12 star with four NGC galaxies close
north including NGC 3150 2.3' N and
17.5" (3/23/85): fairly faint, very small, weak concentration. A mag 12 star is 2.0' NE. Forms a pair with NGC 3150 2.3' N. An extremely faint galaxy is 55" E of center (LEDA 2131950). Member of the NGC 3158 group.
13.1" (2/25/84): very faint, very small. Located just west of a star.
Guillaume Bigourdan discovered NGC 3151 = Big. 41, along
with nearby NGCs 3150, 3159 and 3161, on 1 Feb 1886 in the NGC 3158 group. His position matches
******************************
10 13 34.1 +38 50 35; LMi
V = 14.2; Size 1.0'x0.6'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 80°
18" (2/19/09): very faint, small, ~20"-22"
diameter, weak concentration. A
mag 15 star lies 44" NE.
Located 4' W of brighter
17.5" (3/23/85): faint, small, round. A mag 15 star is off the NE edge 0.8' from center. NGC 3158 lies 5.5' SE and NGC 3160 4.1' E. Member of the NGC 3158 group.
13.1" (2/25/84): extremely faint, very small, round. Located 4' W of NGC 3160 and 5.5' NW of NGC 3158.
R.J. Mitchell discovered NGC 3152 (along with NGC 3160) on
27 Mar 1854 using LdR's 72".
He noted "3 nebula, preceding one [NGC 3152] vS, about 4' following
is a small lenticular ray [NGC 3160], E sp-nf..." Observing on 27 Feb 1876 Dreyer
measured an accurate micrometric offset from NGC 3158 at Birr Castle, which
matches
******************************
10 12 50.5 +12 39 59; Leo
V = 12.6; Size 2.1'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 170°
24" (4/15/23): at 327x; nearly moderately bright, large, diffuse oval 5:2 N-S, broad concentration with a brighter middle but no core or nucleus. NGC 3134 = CGCG 064-088 lies 18' SSW.
28" (4/12/18): at 285x; fairly bright, moderately large, elongated 5:2 or 3:1 ~N-S, ~1.5'x0.6', brighter along the major axis (central bar), slightly brighter nucleus. Located 1.3° NE of Regulus.
17.5" (1/23/88): moderately bright, moderately large, oval ~N-S, broad concentration.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3153 = H. III-53 = h677 on 19 Mar 1784 (sweep 177) and noted "very faint, not small, resolvable." He observed it again on 12 Apr (sweep 188) and logged "extremely faint, small, little elongated, resolvable. 240x confirmed it and I can perceive 3 or 4 stars in it." On 23 Mar 1830 (sweep 242), John Herschel called it "eF; pL; R."
David Todd independently discovered this galaxy on 5 Feb 1878 during his search for a trans-Neptunian planet and recorded it as object #20b in his published results. It was found again by Christian Peters around 1880. He was unsure if this was a new object as Herschel's RA in the General Catalog was 12 seconds off. The NGC position -- from Peters' first list of positions -- is accurate.
******************************
10 13 01.3 +17 02 03; Leo
V = 13.7; Size 0.9'x0.4'; Surf Br = 12.3; PA = 124°
17.5" (1/23/88): faint, very small, elongated NW-SE. A mag 14 star is 1.1' N. Located 2.2' WNW of mag 8.7 SAO 99006.
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3154 = St. 10-24 on 8 Mar 1869, though did not publish his rough position (2' too far SE). He published an accurate micrometric position from 12 Mar 1880 and noted "F, S, R, little brighter in the middle."
******************************
NGC 3155 = NGC 3194 = UGC 5538 = MCG +12-10-026 = CGCG 351-012 = LGG 193-002 = PGC 30064
10 17 39.9 +74 20 51; Dra
V = 12.9; Size 1.4'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 35°
17.5" (1/28/89): faint, small, slightly elongated, even surface brightness. Forms a pair with NGC 3144 11.6' SW.
John Herschel found NGC 3155 = h676 on 2 Sep 1828 (sweep
171). He recorded "very
faint; small; round. RA extremely
precarious." lHis rough
position falls 4' NE of
William Herschel discovered this galaxy on 2 Apr 1801 (sweep
1096 with large systematic errors).
His revised position, using Greenwich plates (MN, 71, 509), reveals H.
IIII. 965 = NGC 3194 is identical to NGC 3155. The modern designation is NGC 3155, despite the earlier
discovery of
******************************
10 12 41.2 +03 07 45; Sex
V = 12.3; Size 1.9'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 47°
17.5" (3/23/85): moderately bright, small, small bright
core. A triangle of bright stars
follows; mag 9.0
13.1" (4/16/83): fairly faint, small, elongated.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3156 = H. III-255 = h680 on 13 Dec 1784 (sweep 342) and noted "vF, vS, preceding a triangle of bright stars." On 10 Apr 1828 (sweep 143) John Herschel called the galaxy, "pB; S; R: pretty suddenly brighter middle; 15"."
******************************
10 11 42.4 -31 38 34; Ant
V = 13.2; Size 2.5'x0.5'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 38°
18" (4/10/04): very faint, thin edge-on 4:1 SW-NE, 0.8'x0.2',
low even surface brightness.
Requires averted to glimpse once position pinpointed. A mag 14.5-15 star is just off the east
side of the center. Located 4.5' N
of a mag 9.0
John Herschel discovered NGC 3157 = h3233 on 28 Jan 1835 and
noted "vF; E; 30" has a * 8m sp." His Cape position is an exact match with
DeLisle Stewart later rediscovered this galaxy on plates
taken at Harvard's Arequipa station, recorded the correct position as D.S. 336
(later
******************************
NGC 3158 = UGC 5511 = MCG +07-21-020 = CGCG 211-022 = WBL 258-004 = PGC 29822
10 13 50.5 +38 45 53; LMi
V = 11.9; Size 2.0'x1.8'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 0°
18" (2/19/09): fairly bright, moderately large, irregularly round, well concentrated with a very bright core and relatively large, fainter halo, ~0.8'x0.7'. Brightest of 12 galaxies (WBL 258 group at a distance of roughly 300 million l.y.) viewed that are packed into a 14' circle!
17.5" (3/23/85): fairly bright, irregular round or slightly elongated, small bright core. Brightest in the NGC 3158 group with NGC 3159 6.7' SSE, NGC 3160 4.7' N and NGC 3152 5.5' NW.
13.1" (2/25/84): fairly bright, round, weakly concentrated, largest and brightest in a group.
8" (3/28/81): faint, small, requires averted.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3158 = H. II-639 = h678,
along with
******************************
NGC 3159 = MCG +07-21-021 = CGCG 211-023 = Holm 172c = WBL 258-005 = PGC 29825
10 13 52.8 +38 39 16; LMi
V = 13.6; Size 0.8'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.8
18" (2/19/09): faint to fairly taint, small, irregulaly
round, 25"x20", very small bright core. First of three in a 2.8' E-W string with
17.5" (3/23/85): fairly faint, small, irregularly round, small bright core. This member of the NGC 3158 group is the first of three with NGC 3161 1.2' E and NGC 3163 2.7' E. NGC 3158 lies 6.7' NNW.
13.1" (2/25/84): faint, small, round. Third brightest in NGC 3158 group.
Guillaume Bigourdan discovered NGC 3159 = Big. 42 on 1 Feb 1886, along with NGC 3150, 3151 and 3161. His position is accurate. Édouard Stephan observed NGC 3158 the following month on 4 Mar 1886 and independently discovered NGC 3159 and NGC 3161, though after the publication of his last discovery paper.
******************************
NGC 3160 = UGC 5513 = MCG +07-21-023 = CGCG 211-024 = WBL 258-006 = PGC 29830
10 13 55.1 +38 50 34; LMi
V = 14.1; Size 1.3'x0.3'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 140°
18" (2/19/09): faint, edge-on 7:2 NW-SE, ~40"x12". Located 4.9' N of NGC 3158 in a rich group and directly between a mag 12.5 star 1.5' SSW and a mag 11.5 star 2.2' NNE. NGC 3152 lies 4' W.
17.5" (3/23/85): faint, small, edge-on NW-SE. Member of NGC 3158 group with NGC 3158 4.7' S.
13.1" (2/25/84): extremely faint, small. Located 5' N of NGC 3158.
R.J. Mitchell discovered NGC 3160 (along with NGC 3152) on
27 Mar 1854 using LdR's 72".
He noted "about 4' following [NGC 3152] is a small lenticular ray,
elongated sp nf." His offset and
description matches
******************************
NGC 3161 = MCG +07-21-022 = CGCG 211-025 = Holm 172a = WBL 258-007 = PGC 29837
10 13 59.2 +38 39 26; LMi
V = 13.5; Size 0.8'x0.6'; Surf Br = 14.8; PA = 10°
18" (2/19/09): very faint, very small, slightly elongated 20"x16", very small or stellar core. Sandwiched between NGC 3159 1.2' W and NGC 3163 1.6' E in the NGC 3158 cluster.
17.5" (3/23/85): this member in the NGC 3158 group is small and the faintest of three with close companions NGC 3159 1.2' W and NGC 3163 1.5' E. Even surface brightness and visible with direct vision.
13.1" (2/25/84): extremely faint, very small, round. Located between NGC 3159 and NGC 3163.
Guillaume Bigourdan discovered NGC 3161 = Big. 43 on 1 Feb 1886, along with NGC 3151, 3159 and 3161. His position was accurate. Édouard Stephan observed NGC 3158 the following month on 4 Mar 1886 and independently discovered NGC 3159 and NGC 3161. Only Bigourdan was credited in the NGC.
******************************
10 13 31.6 +22 44 15; Leo
V = 11.6; Size 3.0'x2.5'; Surf Br = 13.7
48" (3/1/19): at 488x; bright, large, roundish, ~1.8' diameter. A very strong, well defined spiral arm is attached at the southeast side of the core. It curled ~90° counterclockwise to the south and west. The arm dimmed significantly at the apparent end, but looking carefully I could detect very faint haze further SW in the outer fringes of the galaxy. Further south of this arm, the outer edge of the galaxy was barely visible as the surface brightness was very low. The spiral arm on the north side of the galaxy was poorly seen, but a relatively large knot [several HII knots on the SDSS] was visible 25" N of center. A short section of the spiral arm was also visible extending east from this knot. A mag 15.4 star is east of the core [40" from center] and very faint haze from the ragged outer halo was detected beyond this star, along with a very dim knot (HII region in the outermost spiral arm) 1' E of center. A mag 13.9 star is 1.1' SE of center, just beyond the halo. A mag 10.9 star is 3.4' W.
17.5" (3/23/85): moderately bright, fairly small, pretty diffuse, weak broad concentration, faint stellar nucleus. A mag 13.5 star is 1.1' SE, a mag 10.5 star 3.4' W and a mag 11.5 star 3.7' NE. Located 1° SE of Zeta Leonis (V = 3.6).
William Herschel discovered NGC 3162 = H. II-43 = h682 on 12 Mar 1784 (sweep 166) and recorded "vF, pL, r. It seemed to consist of two nebula joined together having two places rather brighter than the ousides of the nebula; but with [higher power] the following of them appeared very plainly to be a star. The star seemed to have no connection with the nebula, for, though within the nebulosity there was no kind of gradation of light from the star to the nebula as there generally is from the brighter to the more faint part of nebula." His position was 20 seconds of RA too far west.
On 20 Mar 1854, R.J. Mitchell described it as a "spiral
left-handed, spirality very faintly seen, night bad." In 1857, he
"suspected a knot in the northwest end." Based on my observation with a 48", this is probably a
knot on the north side.
******************************
NGC 3163 = UGC 5517 = MCG +07-21-026 = CGCG 211-027 = Holm 172b = WBL 258-008 = PGC 29846
10 14 07.1 +38 39 09; LMi
V = 13.3; Size 1.2'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.5
18" (2/19/09): fairly faint, small, round, 25" diameter, very small bright core. Third of three in a 2.8' string with NGC 3163 1.5' W and NGC 3159 2.8' W. Also MCG +07-21-019 is close NW of the string. Located 7.4' SE of NGC 3158 in a rich group.
17.5" (3/23/85): fairly faint, small, round, bright core. Brightest and third of three with NGC 3161 1.5' W and NGC 3159 2.7' W.
13.1" (2/25/84): faint, small, round. Third of three in a string and the second brightest in a group.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3163 = H. II-640 = h681, along with NGC 3158, on 17 Mar 1787 (sweep 713) and logged "F, vS, r. 300x showed the same."
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10 15 11.4 +56 40 19; UMa
V = 13.7; Size 0.9'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 0°
18" (4/10/04): very faint, fairly small, elongated ~3:2
N-S, 0.7'x0.5'. Low surface
brightness with very little concentration. Located 11' SW of mag 8.5
John Herschel discovered NGC 3164 = h679 on 9 Feb 1831
(sweep 323) and noted "eF; R: very gradually little brighter middle; 15
arc seconds." His single
position matches
******************************
10 13 31.4 +03 22 32; Sex
V = 13.9; Size 1.6'x0.8'; Surf Br = 14.0; PA = 177°
17.5" (3/23/85): very faint, elongated 2:1 N-S. Forms the western vertex of a triangle
with two mag 12.5 stars 1.9' SE and 1.7' NE. First and faintest of three located 4.6' SW of
R.J. Mitchell, Lord Rosse's assistant, discovered NGC 3165 on 30 Jan 1856. While observing NGC 3166 and 3169 he noted "about 5' sp 684 [NGC 3166] is a vvF ray extending N-S." The NGC RA is 15 sec too small. Probably based on the poor NGC position, NGC 3165 was included as #212 in a catalog of new nebulae and clusters found on a photographic survey of bright galaxies by James Keeler between 1898-1900 and published in the 1908 Publications of Lick Observatory, Vol VIII.
******************************
NGC 3166 = UGC 5516 = MCG +01-26-024 = CGCG 063-064 = Holm 173a = LGG 192-003 = PGC 29814
10 13 44.9 +03 25 31; Sex
V = 10.4; Size 4.8'x2.3'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 87°
17.5" (3/23/85): bright, almost round, even concentration to a brighter core and stellar nucleus (the large, low surface brightness arms were not seen). The core appears brighter than NGC 3169 7.8' ENE but the duo is pretty similar. Second of three with NGC 3165 4.6' SW. Two mag 12.5 stars lie 2.6' NW and 2.8' SW of center.
13.1" (4/16/83): fairly bright, bright core. Forms a pair with NGC 3169.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3166 = H. I-3 = h684 = St. 13-56, along with NGC 3169, on 19 Dec 1783 (short sweep 58). His summary description from 4 sweeps reads "cB, pL, cometic, mbM."
John Herschel's first of four observations was made on 13 Feb 1826 (sweep 18): "B; R; gradually brighter in the middle; 60". The preceding of 2 [with NGC 3169]."
Édouard Stephan made an observation on 17 Mar 1882. His reduced position on 18 Mar 1884 was published in list 13 (#56), is within a few arcseconds of NGC 3166 though Dreyer and Esmiol (who later re-reduced all of Stephan's positions) misidentified the entry as NGC 3165. Also Stephan's 13-57 refers to NGC 3169, though he calls it NGC 3166 in the notes section to list XIII.
******************************
09 14 59.7 +29 43 48; Cnc
See observing notes for
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3167 on 1 May 1862 and recorded a "Small and faint nebula. * 11 preceding 9.5 sec, a little farther north. Whether it is just a nebula, or perhaps a confused group of faint stars is still undetermined, for this evening the air is turbulent." There is nothing at or near his single position matching his description and RNGC classifies NGC 3167 as nonexistent.
Harold Corwin originally listed this object as lost as there were no candidates nearby, but recently (email from 16 Jun 2014) he found that if d'Arrest made a 1 hr transcription error in his RA (too large), then his position matches NGC 2789 and the mag 11 star is just where he placed it to the northwest of the galaxy! Corwin notes that d'Arrest made a similar 1 hr recording error on a few other discoveries (NGC 3575, 3760 and 5008), so this is not a unique situation.
******************************
10 16 23.0 +60 14 06; UMa
V = 13.4; Size 1.0'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.3
17.5" (3/12/88): fairly faint, very small, round, small
bright core. Located 5.6' NE of
mag 6.8
John Herschel discovered NGC 3168 = h683 on 25 Mar 1832
(sweep 406) and recorded "F; pretty suddenly brighter middle; like a star
rubbed out. A * 7-8m in field np -
dist 5'." His position
matches
******************************
NGC 3169 = UGC 5525 = MCG +01-26-026 = CGCG 036-066 = Holm 173b = LGG 192-004 = PGC 29855
10 14 14.8 +03 28 00; Sex
V = 10.2; Size 4.4'x2.8'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 45°
17.5" (3/23/85): bright, slightly elongated SW-NE, moderate concentration, pretty faint stellar nucleus. A mag 11 star is just off the east side, 1.6' from the center. Third of three with NGC 3166 7.8' WSW and NGC 3165 12' SW.
13.1" (4/16/83): bright, bright core.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3169 = H. I-4 = h684, along with NGC 3166, on 19 Dec 1783 (short sweep 58). His summary description from 4 sweeps reads "cB, pL, cometic, mbM." He published a sketch in his 1811 paper (Fig. 22) as an illlustration of "nebulae that have a cometic appearance." John Herschel also made 4 observations and wrote on 13 Feb 1826 (sweep 18): "B; R; gradually much brighter middle; 60"; the foll of 2."
Édouard Stephan observed the galaxy on 17 Mar 1882 and measured an accurate micrometric position that was published in his 13th list (#57), though he misidentified the galaxy as NGC 3166.
R.J. Mitchell, Lord Rosse's assistant, observed NGC 3169 on 15 Mar 1855 and commented "sharp at sf edge [dust lane?] and fades of np, spreading out in that direction." The following January he also noted "perhaps vF neby beyond the well defined sf edge?"
******************************
10 16 14.5 +46 36 43; UMa
= **, Gottlieb and Corwin. Not found, RNGC.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3170 = h686 on 19 Mar 1828 (sweep 139) and noted "F; S; R." Just 1' north of his position (single observation) is a 7" pair of mag 13.8/15.2 stars at 10 16 14.5 +46 36 44 (J2000). RNGC classifies the number as nonexistent.
******************************
10 15 36.7 -20 38 51; Hya
V = 12.8; Size 1.7'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 176°
17.5" (3/22/96): faint, fairly small, elongated 4:3 N-S, 1.1'x0.8'. Forms the west vertex of an equilateral triangle with two mag 13.5-14 stars 2.3' NE and 2.5' E. Located 16' W of mag 6.6 SAO 178610.
Ormond Stone discovered NGC 3171 = LM 1-169 in 1886 with the
26" refractor at the Leander-McCormick Observatory. His rough position (nearest min of RA)
is 1.4 tmin west of
******************************
11 47 13.0 +89 05 35; UMi
V = 14.1; Size 1.1'x0.95'; Surf Br = 13.7; PA = 39°
48" (10/26/16): at 375x and 488x; fairly bright, moderately large, round. Sharply concentrated with a very bright round core that increases to the center and a low surface brightness 45" halo. A mag 12.5 star is 1.5' separation (NW) and a mag 16-16.5 star is within 1' (50" S).
24" (9/6/18): at 375x; fairly faint, fairly small, round, 30" diameter, very small brighter core that occasionally sharpens up to a quasi-stellar nucleus. A mag 12.5 star is 1.5' (NW). MCG +15-01-010, situated just 1.5' (WSW), appeared extremely faint, very small, round, 18" diameter, low even surface brightness.
24" (9/15/12): fairly faint, small, round, 25" diameter, well defined halo, broad weak concentration with a very small brighter nucleus. A mag 13 star is 1.5' distant (NW) and a very faint mag 16.5 star is 50" S.
18" (8/1/11): faint, very small, round, 20" diameter, brighter core. A mag 13 star lies 1.5' NW. MCG +15-01-010, an extremely faint companion just 1.6' W, was marginally glimpsed though difficult to confirm.
17.5" (7/16/93) : faint, very small, round, 0.5' diameter, very small brighter core, faint stellar nucleus. A mag 13 star is 1.5' NW. This is the closest NGC galaxy to the North Celestial Pole and is known as "Polarissima Borealis".
17.5" (11/14/87): very faint, small, round, brighter core, faint stellar nucleus, can hold steadily with averted. A mag 12.5 star is 1.5' distant.
17.5" (8/1/86): faint, brighter core, fairly small, round. A mag 13 star is within 2'.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3172 = h250 on 4 Oct 1831. He recorded "very faint; round; gradually brighter middle; 25" diameter; has a * 11m 2' S. This nebula is remarkable for its proximity to the pole. Owing to this the RA cannot be determined exactly, and the PD is open to correction." In the synonym column he called it "Polarissima" but later it was called "Polarissima Borealis" to distinguish it from "Polarissima Australis". At the time of discovery in 1831 this galaxy was only 4.5' from the north celestial pole!
Heinrich d'Arrest observed it with the 11" refractor at Copenhagen on 12 Aug 1866. He noted the mag 12 star is 75" distant to the north.
******************************
10 14 34.9 -27 41 34; Ant
V = 12.8; Size 2.1'x1.7'; Surf Br = 14.1; PA = 7°
18" (4/10/04): fairly faint, moderately large,
round. Sharply concentrated with a
moderately bright 15" core surrounded by a very faint, low surface
brightness halo requiring averted vision.
The galaxy is very close preceding mag 10
John Herschel discovered NGC 3173 = h3235 on 24 Mar 1835 and
noted "F; R: gradually brighter in the middle; 40"." His position and description matches
******************************
NGC 3174 = NGC 3144 = UGC 5519 = MCG +12-10-023 = CGCG 333-020 = CGCG 351-011 = PGC 29949
10 15 32.0 +74 13 14; Dra
V = 13.4; Size 1.2'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 0°
See observing notes for NGC 3144
William Herschel discovered NGC 3174 = H. III-964 on 2 Apr
1801 (sweep 1096) and noted "very faint, very small." This is one of 15 far northern galaxies
with large systematic errors due to a misidentification of the offset star and
the telescope misaligned off the meridian by 7°. A corrected position matching
Heinrich d'Arrest independently discovered this galaxy on 25 Sep 1865, measured a fairly accurate position (within 1' of UGC 5519), and it was catalogued as NGC 3144. By discovery priority, this galaxy should be identified as NGC 3174, though the modern identification is NGC 3144.
******************************
NGC 3175 = ESO 436-003 = MCG -05-24-028 = UGCA 207 = VV 796 = LGG 189-005 = PGC 29892
10 14 42.2 -28 52 18; Ant
V = 11.2; Size 5.0'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 56°
17.5" (3/28/87): bright, fairly large, bright core, very elongated 3:1 SW-NE, 2.5'x0.8'. Located 38' ESE of mag 6.3 HR 2003. NGC 3175 is the brightest in a group (LGG 189) that includes UGCA 196, NGC 3113, 3125 and 3137.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3175 = h3236 on 30 Mar 1835 and
recorded "B; L; mE; gradually very little brighter middle; 2' l; pos
50.3°." His position and
description matches
******************************
10 15 18 -19 01; Hya
= Not found, Corwin and Carlson. Possibly = ESO 567-029, Corwin. Possibly = ESO 568-011, Gottlieb
Ormond Stone discovered NGC 3176 = LM 1-170 in 1886 with the
26" refractor at Leander McCormick Observatory and noted "mag 16.0,
0.8' dia, irregularly round, neb?"
There is nothing at his rough position (nearest min of RA) and both
Harold Corwin and Dorothy Carlson (in her 1940 NGC correction list) conclude
this object is lost. Corwin
suggests
******************************
10 16 34.1 +21 07 23; Leo
V = 12.4; Size 1.4'x1.2'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 135°
17.5" (3/23/85): fairly faint, small, increases to a
brighter core, stellar nucleus, small faint halo. Member of the
William Herschel discovered NGC 3177 = H. III-25 = h687 on 12 Mar 1784 (sweep 166) and noted "vF, S." His RA was 43 seconds too small.
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10 16 09.1 -15 47 28; Hya
V = 13.9; Size 1.4'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.9; PA = 70°
17.5" (3/22/96): fairly faint, moderately large,
elongated 4:3 SW-NE, 1.2'x0.9', even surface brightness. A mag 12-13 star lies 2.9' ESE. There are several mag 10-11 stars in
the 20' field and mag 9.3
John Herschel discovered NGC 3178 = h3237 on 16 Mar 1836 and
noted "pB; pL; gradually pretty much brighter middle; seen through
haze." His position matches
******************************
10 17 57.2 +41 06 51; UMa
V = 13.1; Size 1.9'x0.5'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 48°
17.5" (4/9/94): fairly faint, very small, elongated 2:1 SW-NE, 0.6'x0.3', very small bright core appears mottled. Almost collinear with two mag 13.5 stars 1.0' SW and 1.9' SW. NGC 3184 lies 19' NNE.
George Johnstone Stoney, Lord Rosse's assistant, discovered
NGC 3179 on 25 Jan 1851. He
recorded "25' south and a little preceding [
******************************
10 18 10.8 +41 26 55; UMa
48" (4/4/11): A small HII knot with a stellar core was visible 1.8' NW of the nucleus of NGC 3184. This small knot is within a larger, slightly brighter portion of the long, sweeping arm (shown on the sketch at Birr Castle) that wraps around the core of NGC 3184 on the south side before winding north on the west side and ending near NGC 3180.
George Johnstone Stoney, Lord Rosse's assistant, discovered NGC 3180 on 25 Jan 1851. His description of NGC 3184 states "is triple, neby perhaps extends round them all as far as the * north." The 1 Feb 1856 description states: "The neby connecting the 3 principal knots is vvF but I have no doubt of its existence." R.J. Mitchell sketched the the spiral structure on 1 Feb 1856 (fig 13, Plate XXVII in the 1861 publication) and highlighted two brighter knots or sections of the western spiral arm.
******************************
10 18 11.5 +41 24 45; UMa
48" (4/4/11): NGC 3181 is a bright, 15" knot in one of the spiral arms of NGC 3184. It resides 1.2' SW of the nucleus in a long sweeping arm that wraps around around south side of the core and then heads north on the west side of the galaxy. This is the brightest of a couple of knots resolved in the arms.
George Johnstone Stoney, Lord Rosse's assistant, discovered NGC 3181 on 25 Jan 1851 in an observation of NGC 3184. R.J. Mitchell sketched the the spiral structure on 1 Feb 1856 (fig 13, Plate XXVII in the 1861 publication) and highlighted two brighter knots or sections of the western spiral arm. The elongated knot embedded in the spiral arm on the southwest side is NGC 3181. This HII region is catalogued as [H69] 41 in Hodge's "HII Regions in 20 Nearby Galaxies".
******************************
10 19 33.0 +58 12 21; UMa
V = 12.1; Size 1.8'x1.5'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 155°
17.5" (4/29/00): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated
4:3 NNW-SSE, 0.9'x0.7'. Bright
core, occasional stellar nucleus.
Collinear with two mag 13 stars 2.4' NE and 3.5' NE.
17.5" (4/9/94): moderately bright, fairly small, round, 1.0' diameter, bright core, fairly high surface brightness. A mag 14 star is 1.5' SW followed by a mag 12 star 2.4' NE and a mag 13 star 4' NE on a line.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3182 = H. I-265 on 8 Apr
1793 (sweep 1038) and noted "considerably bright, small, very gradually
much brighter middle, irregularly round." Caroline's reduction matches
******************************
10 21 49.4 +74 10 37; Dra
V = 11.9; Size 2.3'x1.4'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 170°
17.5" (4/6/02): moderately bright, fairly large,
elongated ~2:1 NNW-SSE, 2.0'x0.8', broad concentration but no well defined
core. Several stars are nearby
including two mag 13.5 stars at the north edge and a couple more stars within
1'. Very possibly one of these is
a stellar companion 1.0' NNE of center (
Heinrich d'Arrest independently discovered NGC 3183 on 28
Sep 1865 with the 11" refractor at Copenhagen. His position matches
William Herschel first discovered this galaxy on 2 Apr 1801, the problematic northern sweep 1096 with large systematic errors. His revised position, using Greenwich plates (MN, 71, 509), reveals H. I-283 = NGC 3218 = NGC 3183. The modern designation is NGC 3183, despite Herschel's earlier discovery.
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NGC 3184 = NGC 3180 = UGC 5557 = MCG +07-21-037 = CGCG 211-038 = PGC 30087
10 18 17.0 +41 25 27; UMa
V = 9.8; Size 7.4'x6.9'; Surf Br = 13.9; PA = 135°
48" (4/4/11): NGC 3184 is a beautiful face-on spiral
with two main long arms and branches, along with several HII knots (two with
NGC designations) in the arms.
Contains a relatively small, very bright core, ~1' diameter with a sharp
stellar nucleus. A mag 15-16 star
is visible about 40" NE of the center near the edge of the core. One arm is attached on the east side of
the core and winds counterclockwise around the south side of the core towards
the west. The outer halo of the
galaxy to the south of this arm has a much lower surface brightness. NGC 3181 is a bright, 15" knot
(HII region/massive star cluster) embedded in this arm, 1.2' SW of the
nucleus. The arm then continues
spiraling outward as it heads north and contains NGC 3180, very small knot with
a stellar core at 1.8' NW of the nucleus.
This small knot is within a larger, slightly brighter portion of the
arm. A second prominent arm is
attached on the west side of the core and rotates counterclockwise around the
north side towards the east. The
surface brightness lowers on the east side and the arm splits into two
branches. A mag 11.7 star is
superimposed near the outer edge on the north side beyond the arm. Located 11' ESE of mag 6.6
17.5" (4/4/92): fairly bright, large, slightly elongated ~N-S, large 4' halo has a fairly low surface brightness, very weak concentration, small brighter elongated core. There is an impression of spiral structure though it wasn't distinct. A mag 11.5 star is at the north edge of the halo 1.8' from the center. Located 40' W of Mu Ursa Majoris (V = 3.1).
William Herschel discovered NGC 3184 = H. I-168 = h688 = h689 on 18 Mar 1787 (sweep 716) and recorded "cB, R, near 8' dia, very gradually brighter middle. A considerable star in the northern part of it but unconnected." John Herschel assigned two entries for this galaxy, h688 = H. I-168 and h689, with the second entry a poor position for this face-on spiral.
Bindon Stoney, Lord Rosse's assistant on 25 Jan 1851, logged "Is triple, neby perhaps extends round them all as far as the star north. h689 not seen." The following month, he commented "preceding part probably a portion of a ring." R.J. Mitchell sketched spiral structure on 1 Feb 1856 (fig 13, Plate XXVII in the 1861 publication). The sketch shows two brighter, elongated knots in the western arm and Dreyer catalogued these as NGC 3180 and 3181.
MCG mislabels the galaxy as NGC 3180.
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10 17 38.5 +21 41 18; Leo
V = 12.2; Size 2.3'x1.6'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 130°
48" (4/18/15): at 610x; very bright, fairly large, oval halo 5:3 NW-SE, ~1.8'x1.1'. Strongly concentrated with a very bright roundish core which increases to a slightly brighter stellar nucleus. The halo has a brighter arcs at the ends of the major axis (northwest and southeast ends) and is slightly weaker inside, creating a weak ring. A very weak bar is highly suspected connecting the ends of the major axis and the core (very subtle barred ring). A mag 14.5 star is just off the west side [42" from center].
17.5" (3/23/85): fairly faint, increases to a brighter core, diffuse halo elongated NW-SE. A mag 14 star is just off the west edge 0.7' from center and a similar star is 1.4' SW of center. Member of the NGC 3190 group = HCG 44.
13.1" (3/24/84): fairly faint, moderately large, gradually brighter core.
8" (4/24/82): faint, fairly small, elongated.
George Johnstone Stoney (Lord Rosse's assistant) discovered
NGC 3185, along with
Eduard Schönfeld found it at the Mannhein Observatory on 15 Jan 1861, Julius Schmidt at the Athens Observatory on 8 Feb 1861 and Heinrich d'Arrest on 1 Jan 1862 (position measured on 5 nights). Schultz referred to it as "Nova Schonfeld", unaware of the Birr Castle observation. John Herschel credited both Lord Rosse and d'Arrest in the GC.
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10 17 37.9 +06 58 16; Leo
V = 14.8; Size 0.7'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.8
17.5" (3/25/00): very faint, extremely small, round, ~15" diameter (probably viewed core only), faint stellar nucleus. Located 1.2' SE of a mag 12.5 star. This galaxy is identified as NGC 3186 in the RNGC and PGC but the identification is uncertain due to a poor position from Albert Marth.
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3186 = m 195 on 25 Mar 1865 and
noted "pF, vS, gradually brighter in the middle." In the GC Supplement and NGC, Dreyer
added the comment "several faint stars near", though Corwin notes the
source is unknown (not in the published Lord Rosse observations). There is
nothing at Marth's position, but a couple of candidates are nearby. The RNGC and PGC identify
In my observation of the field, I picked up
******************************
NGC 3187 = HCG 44D = Arp 316 NED1 = VV 307b = UGC 5556 = MCG +04-24-025 = CGCG 123-036 = PGC 30068
10 17 47.8 +21 52 25; Leo
V = 13.4; Size 3.0'x1.3'; Surf Br = 14.7
48" (4/1/11): moderately bright, elongated 3:1 NW-SE, 1.8'x0.6', weak concentration with no well defined core. At both the NW and SE ends of the bar are faint spiral arms. The arm at the NW end bends sharply towards the south in the direction of a mag 13.8 star 1.0' SW of center, though doesn't reach this star. At the SW end of the bar a second faint arm hooks at a right angle to the NE. Both arms extend ~45" and give the galaxy a distinctive zig-zag shape. Located on a line 4.9' NW of the showpiece edge-on NGC 3190.
17.5" (3/23/85): faint, small, edge-on NW-SE. A mag 14 star is off the SW side 1.1'
from center and a similar star is 1.3' SSE. Unusual as the major axis is exactly collinear with the
brighter edge-on NGC 3190 4.9' SE.
Located 6.3' SSW of mag 7.8
13.1" (4/24/82 and 3/24/84) very faint, elongated NW-SE. Located 5' NW NGC 3190. A mag 8 star 6' NNE detracts.
8" (4/24/82): not seen (suspected).
George Johnstone Stoney, Lord Rosse's assistant, discovered NGC 3187 in January 1850. This object was found while observing NGC 3190 and 3193, and labeled "Gamma" on the sketch. The description mentioned "[NGC 3190] and [NGC 3187] proibably connected. In [NGC 3187], several minute stars seen by Lord R." R.J. Mitchell's sketch (in the 1861 publication) shows the galaxy tapering at the southeast end and broader at the northwest end.
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10 19 42.9 +57 25 24; UMa
V = 13.7; Size 0.9'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.3
17.5" (4/9/94): surprisingly faint, small, round,
diffuse, unconcentrated except for extremely faint star superimposed at center
or a very faint stellar nucleus, appears to have an irregular surface
brightness. Two faint stars just
off edges; a mag 14.5 star 0.6' NW of center and a mag 15 star 0.6' E of center
also confuse the observation.
Forms a close double with
William Herschel discovered NGC 3188 = H. III-910 = h690 on 8 Apr 1793 (sweep 1038). He recorded "very faint, pretty large, resolvable, irregular figure, some of the stars visible." John Herschel logged, "eF; pL; 30" diameter." (9 Feb 1831, sweep 323).
Birr Castle assistant Ralph Copeland on 5 Apr 1874 reported it as "vF, cL, R, gradually brighter in the middle, * 15 m near the middle and several small stars near (within 2 or 3' foll), but does seem resolvable." One of these "stars" may be a very companion (NGC 3188A) just off the southwest side.
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10 18 04.3 +21 49 54; Leo
48" (4/1/11): this number refers to the thin strip of NGC 3190 that parallels the prominent dust lane on the outer southwest edge of the galaxy. This strip has a well-defined southern edge and dims at the southeast end of the galaxy.
George Johnstone Stoney, Lord Rosse's assistant, discovered NGC 3189 in January 1850, He recorded "F neby probably extended to the right of [NGC 3190]." The sketch produced by R.J. Mitchell (fig 14, Plate XXVII in the 1861 William Parsons' publication) shows NGC 3189 is the strip of NGC 3190 on the southwest side of the dust lane. None of the subsequent observations at Birr Castle mention this feature, although d'Arrest claimed an observation with the 11" refractor at Copenhagen on 23 Mar 1865.
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NGC 3190 = HCG 44A = Arp 316 NED2 = VV 307a = NGC 3189 = UGC 5559 = MCG +04-24-026 = CGCG 123-037 = Holm 175a = LGG 194-003 = PGC 30083
10 18 05.7 +21 49 57; Leo
V = 11.1; Size 4.4'x1.5'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 125°
48" (4/1/11): extremely bright, large, nearly edge-on 7:2 WNW-ESE, 3.7'x1.0', very bright core with a dazzling stellar nucleus embedded. A sharp, contrasty dust lane that is relatively wide runs along the full length of the galaxy, passing just south of the core. A thin strip of the galaxy parallels the dust lane on the outer southwest side of the galaxy. This strip has a well-defined southern edge and dims at the southeast end of the galaxy. Dreyer catalogued the strip as NGC 3189 based on the 1850 sketch using Lord Rosse's 72-inch scope.
17.5" (4/6/02): viewed SN 2002bo (Type Ia), discovered on March 9th, and situated just 12" E and 14" S of center as a 14th magnitude "star".
17.5" (3/23/85): bright, edge-on NW-SE, stellar
nucleus, fairly large. Brightest
in
13.1" (3/24/84): bright, small bright nucleus, elongated NW-SE, brightest in a group. Two mag 8 stars are in the field.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3190 = H. II-44 = h692, along with NGC 3193, on 12 Mar 1784 (sweep 166). His description reads, "Two small nebulae; very like each other; both E and both little brighter middle; than towards the ends, but of the resolvable kind." His single position is closer to NGC 3187, but must refer to the brighter galaxies though NGC 3193 is not noticeably elongated.
George Johnstone Stoney, Lord Rosse's assistant on 15 Mar 1850, sketched two parallel strips separated by a lane. Lord Rosse included the galaxy in a list of objects with "dark spaces" in his 1850 publications. R.J. Mitchell sketched the galaxy on 22 Mar 1857, which was published in 1861 (plate XXVII, fig 14) as two strips separated by a dark lane with the brighter strip dented in towards the center.
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10 19 05.1 +46 27 15; UMa
V = 13.4; Size 0.8'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.4; PA = 5°
17.5" (4/9/94): fairly faint, small, round, 0.7'
diameter, weak broad concentration.
Located 4.1' SSW of a mag 10 star.
Pair with
John Herschel found NGC 3191 = h691 on 19 Mar 1828 (sweep
139) and recorded, "F; S; R; bM; 15-20". If this be III. 704 [
William Herschel discovered this galaxy on 5 Feb 1788 and recorded it as H. III-704 (later GC 2060 = NGC 3192). His position, though, was 7' too far north. All major catalogues identify this galaxy as NGC 3191, instead of NGC 3192. References: Malcolm Thomson's article in the Webb Society Quarterly Journal Apr 1980 and Betelgeuse Nov 1979.
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NGC 3192 = NGC 3191 = UGC 5565 = MCG +08-19-018 = CGCG 240-026 = PGC 30128
10 19 05.1 +46 27 15; UMa
See observing notes for NGC 3191.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3192 = H. III-704 on 5 Feb 1788 (sweep 808) and recorded "eF, vS, may be a patch of small stars." There is nothing at his position, but 8' due south is h691 = NGC 3191. John Herschel recorded this galaxy as h691 (and later NGC 3191), noting "F; S; R; bM; 15-20". If this be III. 704, there must exist a great error in PD on one side or the other." Dreyer also commented "perhaps = h.691" in the notes to his Scientific Papers of WH.
RNGC misidentifies MCG +08-19-017 as NGC 3192. This galaxy is located 1.3' W of NGC 3191. See my RNGC Corrections #1, WSQJ Apr 1980 and Betelgeuse Nov 1979 (by Malcolm Thomson).
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NGC 3193 = HCG 44B = Arp 316 NED3 = UGC 5562 = MCG +04-24-027 = CGCG 123-038 = VV 307 = Holm 175b = WBL 262-003 = PGC 30099
10 18 25.0 +21 53 37; Leo
V = 10.9; Size 3.0'x2.7'; Surf Br = 13.1
17.5" (3/23/85): bright, small, round, stellar nucleus, second brightest in the NGC 3190 group. Located just 1.3' S of mag 9.0 SAO 81279. Third of three with NGC 3190 5.8' SW and NGC 3187 8.8' WSW.
13.1" (3/24/84): bright, small bright nucleus, small, round. A mag 9 star is just 1' N.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3193 = H. II-45 = h693, along with NGC 3190, on 12 Mar 1784 (sweep 166). See notes on NGC 3190.
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NGC 3194 = NGC 3155 = UGC 5538 = MCG +12-10-026 = CGCG 351-012 = PGC 30064
10 17 39.9 +74 20 51; Dra
V = 12.9; Size 1.4'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 35°
See observing notes for NGC 3155.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3194 = H. III-965 on 2 Apr 1801 (sweep 1096) and noted "very faint, very small." This is one of 15 far northern galaxies with large systematic errors due to a misidentification of the offset star and the telescope misaligned off the meridian by 7°. A corrected position matching UGC 5538 was published in 1911 using plates taken at the Greenwich Observatory with the 30-inch reflector. Dreyer repeated this position in the notes to his 1912 revision of Herschel's catalogues. See Harold Corwin's full story in his notes for NGC 3752 and Wolfgang Steinicke's book on Herschel's sweeps (p. 344).
John Herschel independently discovered this galaxy on 2 Sep 1828 and recorded h676 as "vF; S; R. RA extremely precarious." His rough position is 4' too far northeast. Dreyer also assumed this was a new discovery and catalogued it as NGC 3155 (with an accurate position from d'Arrest). So, NGC 3194 = NGC 3155. The primary designation should be NGC 3194, but the common name is NGC 3155.
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NGC 3195 = PK 296-20.1 = ESO 019-2 = PN G296.6-20.0
10 09 21.1 -80 51 31; Cha
V = 11.5; Size 43"x36"
24" (4/4/08 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): at 350x, appeared fairly bright, moderately large, slightly elongated SSW-NNE, ~40"x35". The planetary was clearly annular at this magnification with the rim brightest along the E and W sides, giving a bipolar appearance. The S end of the rim dimmed, making the rim appear U-shaped, open to the south (though also somewhat weaker on the north end). The central hole was irregularly shaped with careful examination. Two mag 12 stars to the W at 45" and 1.6' are collinear with the planetary and a brighter mag 11.5 lies 2' SE. The surrounding field was lacking in bright stars but rich in faint stars. NGC 3149 lies 30' NNW.
18" (7/8/02 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): this is an interesting planetary at 171x with a UHC filter or at 228x. It appeared moderately bright and large, ~40"x35", slightly elongated ~N-S. This disc had a noticeably irregular surface brightness with a slightly brighter knot on the following side and a hint of annularity. Good response to UHC and OIII filters. Located in southern Chamaeleon between Zeta and Delta Chamaeleontis.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3195 = h3241 on 24 Feb 1835 and recorded "planetary nebula, pB, not quite uniform in its light, having two brighter patches, lE towards a * (a); slightly hazy; diameter = 15 or 18" (in RA 13 seconds of time). Pos of star a = 265.7 , dist = 0.7 diam from edge, 11th mag.; of star c, pos = 210.7 , dist = 1 3/4 diam from edge." On a later sweep he described "Planetary nebula, R or vlE; a very little hazy at the edges but still pretty well defined with 240 power. Viewed long and with much attention, being a very remarkable object. I am positive of the existence of two brighter portions near the edges." Sketched Plate VI, figure 2.
Joseph Turner sketched the planetary in July 1874 using the Great Melbourne Telescope (unpublished Plate V, figure 54). His sketch shows it clearly as annular with brighter arcs on the east and west side. Pietro Baracchi (10 Apr 1885) thought the annular rim was slightly brighter on the E and W sides.
The planetary was found in 1900 on a plate taken at Harvard's Arequipa station and described as "extremely faint, extremely small, D neb (Dumb-bel), 2 nuclei, extremely faint star 0.6' preceding."
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10 18 49.1 +27 40 08; Leo
V = 15.3; Size 0.4'x0.2'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 120°
18" (2/23/06): extremely faint and small, round, 10" diameter. Located 0.5' W of a mag 15-15.5 star that confuses the observation. This galaxy is unusually faint for a William Herschel discovery. Located 13' NE of striking double star ∑1421 = 8.2/9.3 at 4.5".
William Herschel discovered NGC 3196 = H. III-348 = h694 on
11 Apr 1785 (sweep 396). Sweeps
396/397 on this date were Herschel's most productive night -- with 72
discoveries. NGC 3196 was the
first and the faintest of the sweep and one his smallest discoveries! He recorded, "suspected, extremely
faint, pretty small, little elongated.
I do not much doubt it; but there is too much light to verify
it." Caroline's reduction is
30 seconds of time following
John Herschel's observed it on 17 Feb 1827 (sweep 57) and noted "so excessively faint that I remained unsatisfied". His position, though, is just 30" S of this galaxy.
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10 14 27.7 +77 49 13; Dra
V = 13.5; Size 1.3'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.6; PA = 155°
17.5" (1/28/89): faint, small, round, even surface brightness. Located almost at midpoint of two mag 11 stars 3.7' NE and 3.5' SW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3197 = H. III-966 on 2 Apr
1801 (sweep 1096). He logged
"faint, small, stellar nebula.
It is very near and preceding a small star. 300x confirmed it." This is one of 15 far northern galaxies with large
systematic errors due to a misidentification of the offset star and the
telescope misaligned off the meridian by 7°. A corrected position matching
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10 19 54.8 +45 32 59; UMa
V = 10.3; Size 8.5'x3.3'; Surf Br = 13.8; PA = 35°
48" (5/4/16): at 375x; NGC 3198 is a showpiece, large spiral extending 7:2 SW-NE, ~8.0'x2.5'. Contains a bright, elongated central "bar", punctuated by a very small bright core that rises to a stellar nucleus. Slightly brighter patches are visible at the ends of the central region, where the spiral arms emerge. A tight inner arm is attached on the northeast end; it bends back sharply and closely parallels the central region, extending southwest for a length of ~3.5'. An outer low surface brightness arm sweeps clockwise on the southwest end. A symmetric outer arm on the northeast end (of slightly higher surface brightness) curls clockwise towards the west. The outer tip to tip diameter is nearly 8'. An uncatalogued fairly bright double star [separation ~3.7"] is 3.5' NNE of center, just beyond the halo and a mag 14 star is 2.2' SSE of center.
17.5" (3/12/94): fairly bright, large, very elongated 3:1 SW-NE, 7.0'x2.5', broadly concentrated, brighter core has an indistinct elongated nucleus and an irregular surface brightness. Two mag 14 stars are close south (nearest is 2.0' from the center) and a mag 11 star is just off the NNE edge 3.5' from the center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3198 = H. I-199 = h695 on 15 Jan 1788 (sweep 800) and remarked "cB, mE, gradually brighter in the middle, about 5' long and 2' broad from sp to nf." John Herschel wrote on 20 Mar 1828 (sweep 140), "F; vL; bM; mE; 6' large, 2.5' br; r[esolvable]."
George Johnstone Stoney, Lord Rosse's assistant on 3 Mar 1850, noted "probably a faint spiral." It was included in the list of "Spiral or curvilinear" nebulae in LdR's 1850 PT paper. In later observations, a "dark vacuity ssp Nucl" was noted as well as "dark spaces throughout its length".
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10 17 06 -57 55; Car
Size 22'x22'
24" (4/11/08 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): at 200x and UHC filter this Wolf-Rayet bubble appeared as an amazing 180° crescent, open on the east side and forming a thick "C" shape. The rim of the bubble is widest on the western portion, although it is slightly brighter on the southwest side. The main portion of the crescent spans ~13' from the north to south end and appears ~3.5' thick in the middle, though fainter nebulosity spreads out to the southeast. A double star (h4302 = 10.4/11.6 at 23") is embedded near the south end. The surface brightness is fairly high overall, though irregular with slightly brighter patches, knots and streaks. A faint 5' linear streak or filament running NNW-SSE is superimposed along the outer western edge, though it separates or resolves from the Crescent at its north and south ends. The illuminating mag 10.6 Wolf-Rayet star (WR 18 = HD 89358) is located about 4' E of the center of the "C", and is asymetrically positioned with respect to the center of the entire shell. This W-R bubble is situated four degrees NW of the Eta Carina nebula in a rich Milky Way star field.
13.1" (2/17/04 - Costa Rica): at 105x and UHC filter, this HII region appears as a remarkable, huge crescent, roughly 11'x7' (the main region extends nearly 1/3 of the 39' field). Opens up towards the east in a huge "C" shape. The SW portion of the crescent is brightest, although the overall surface brightness is irregular with a mottled or curdled appearance. A few stars are superimposed even with the filter with the brightest stars at the SW end. Fainter nebulosity sprouts out of the SW end, increasing the total size by several arcminutes.
18" (7/8/02 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): this is
an amazing HII region with a 20mm Nagler and UHC filter at 103x. It appears as a fairly bright, thick
crescent opening towards the east, roughly 10'x6'! The surface brightness was quite irregular with a UHC filter
and the nebulosity was noticeably brighter on the south end where a couple of
brighter stars are embedded. Off
the bright portion of the south end, much lower surface brightness haze extends
the curve further SE for several arcmin and spreads out somewhat increasing the
length to ~15'. The main mass has a curdled, mottled
appearance and dark lanes appear to intrude into the nebulosity. The illuminating star
9x50mm finder (2/17/04 - Costa Rica): surprisingly, NGC 3199 was visible in the 50mm finder at just 9x by blinking with the OIII filter. An elongated bar of nebulosity was seen!
James Dunlop discovered NGC 3199 = D 332 = h3239 on 1 May 1826. He described (on a 2nd observation 8 nights later) a "very faint ray of nebula, about 2' broad, and 6' or 7' long, joining two small stars at the south following extremity, which are very slightly involved, but their lustre is not diminished from that of similar small stars in the field. The north extremity also joins a group of small stars, but they are not involved. Figure 15 [very basic sketch]." Unfortunately he made a one degree error in reducing the declination (too far north) and a result he wasn't credited for the discovery.
John Herschel rediscovered this Wolf-Rayet nebula on 1 Apr 1834, unaware of Dunlop's earlier observation. He recorded, "A very large and very remarkable nebula, which is brighter to the S.f. part, and dies off to the N.p., having a curved form and forked tail. In the head of it is a double star. The nebula is pretty bright, very large, figure irregular, 8' long, 4' broad. Among a vast number of milky way stars." On 5 Feb 1835 (sweep 543, the night described in his diary as "most superb" and "having attained the sublime of Astronomy - a sort of ne plus ultra") he wrote, "very bright, very large, 10' long, of a concave or crescent form, sharply terminated inwards, fading away outwards. In a field of about 80 stars. The place is that of a 13th mag star, about the middle of the crescent, or rather nearer the head." His sketch from that night is reproduced on plate IV, figure 3. Later that month (sweep 552) he wrote: "pretty bright, very gradually brighter in the middle, of a falcated or semilunar shape, extending over three-quarters of the field. The place is that of a double star in its vertex or southern extremity."
Joseph Turner sketched NGC 3199 carefully on 28 Apr 1876 using the Great Melbourne Telescope (unpublished lithograph plate VII, figure 67). The SE end is tapered and brightest and the wide northwest end is forked with the eastern fork slightly brighter. A lithograph was completed but not published. Albert Le Sueur earlier made a similar sketch with the 48", as well as Pietro Baracchi on 16 Jan 1885.
Williamina Fleming included the central (Wolf-Rayet) star in one of her 1893 lists of "Stars having peculiar spectra" based on Draper photographs taken at Harvard's Arequipa station.
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10 18 36.5 -17 58 57; Hya
V = 12.0; Size 4.2'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.7; PA = 169°
17.5" (1/31/87): moderately bright, very elongated 3:1 NNW-SSE, moderately large. A mag 14 star is at the north end. Either contains a stellar nucleus or a star is superimposed on the center. A mag 12 star lies 2.0' WNW of center.
Edward Holden discovered NGC 3200 on 10 Apr 1882 with the
15.6-inch Clark refractor at the Washburn Observatory in Wisconsin and noted
"pB, E 160, bright middle to a nucleus." His position in Publ. of the
Washburn Observatory, Vol I, p 73, matches
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10 17 36.7 -46 24 40; Vel
V = 6.7; Size 18.2'; Surf Br = 0.7
24" (4/11/08 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): at 200x, this beautiful, loose globular was well resolved with approximately two hundred mag 12 to 16 stars visible within a 10' region. An unusual feature is the large number of brighter cluster stars that appear to be superimposed right on top of a fainter layer of stars in the central core. The core seemed displaced towards the north side as if part of the northern half of the cluster was obscured and flattened. This apparent affect may also be due to a larger number of brighter resolved stars that are superimposed on the northern half of the core. A number of stars in the outer halo are arranged in strings and chains and the outer extent of the halo is irregular.
18" (7/8/02 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): beautifully resolved globular at 171x and 228x. The cluster is fairly large, ~8'-10' diameter with more careful viewing. Roughly 150 stars were resolved, though the number grew with magnification and averted vision. A fairly dense layer of brighter mag 11.5-12 stars were resolved right over the bright core. The halo, which has a large number of mag 13 stars, had a scraggly, irregular edge and seemed elongated - possibly partially obscured by intervening dust. This concentration class X cluster is 7th in ranking of brightest stars (mag 11.7) and 10th in horizontal-branch mag stars (mag 14.8).
13.1" (2/23/85): this fairly bright globular cluster appears fairly large and mottled. But only a few stars were resolved due to the view being compromised by the very low elevation (~5° altitude) from northern California.
James Dunlop discovered NGC 3201 = D 445 = h3238 on 1 May 1826. He took detailed notes on 5 nights with a summary description "pretty large, pretty bright round nebula, 4' or 5' diameter, very gradually condensed towards the centre, easily resolved into stars; the figure is rather irregular, and the stars are considerably scattered on the south preceding side: the stars are also of slightly mixed magnitudes."
John Herschel first observed NGC 3201 on 20 Apr 1836 and recorded a "globular cluster, irregularly round, gradually brighter in the middle, not v m comp, 6', resolved into stars 13...15th mag." On a second sweep he called it "irregularly round, 7' diameter, but the outliers extend to at least 10' or 12'; gradually pretty much brighter middle, but not very much compressed; all resolved into stars 13..16th mag."
NGC 3201 is 7th in ranking of brightest member stars (mag 11.7) and 10th in ranking of horizontal-branch mag (mag 14.8). The distance is ~20,000 light years.
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10 20 31.7 +43 01 18; UMa
V = 13.2; Size 1.2'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 20°
17.5" (4/9/94): fairly faint, small, elongated 3:2
SW-NE, 1.0'x0.7', only a weak concentration with a small brighter core. A mag 13.5 star is 1.1' W of
center. First of three with very
similar
William Herschel discovered NGC 3202 = H. II-720 = h696 on 3 Feb 1788 (sweep 804). He simply noted "F, vS" and 30 seconds later recorded NGC 3205 and 3207. On 12 Apr 1830 (sweep 248), John Herschel wrote, "vF; R; very gradually brighter middle; 30"; the preceding of 3 neb in a triangle. Some stars near." His position was approximate and as a result the NGC position is 2' too far south.
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10 19 34.5 -26 41 53; Hya
V = 12.1; Size 2.9'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 58°
17.5" (3/28/87): moderately bright, fairly small, very elongated SW-NE, very small bright core is possibly stellar, very thin extensions.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3203 = h3240 on 24 Mar 1835 and
recorded "pB; E; gradually brighter in the middle; 25"." His RA was 1.0 minute too small. But he measured an accurate RA on the
next sweep (563). Unfortunately he
rejected the second (accurate) RA, so the position in the NGC is in error. Clearly his observations, though, refer
to
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10 20 11.2 +27 49 02; Leo
V = 13.5; Size 1.3'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.6; PA = 110°
17.5" (3/25/95): faint, fairly small, elongated 3:2
NW-SE, 0.8'x0.5'. Located 4.1' NE
of a mag 11 star. A mag 7.7 star
(
John Herschel discovered NGC 3204 = h698 on 24 Dec 1827
(sweep 115) and logged "F; L; 40" - 60"; gradually brighter in
the middle." His position
matches
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NGC 3205 = UGC 5585 = MCG +07-21-042 = CGCG 211-046 = Holm 179a = WBL 264-002 = PGC 30254
10 20 50.0 +42 58 19; UMa
V = 13.2; Size 1.4'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.5
17.5" (4/9/94): second of three in a group. Very similar appearance to NGC 3202 4.4' NW. Fairly faint, small, elongated 3:2 SW-NE. A mag 13 star is 1.0' WSW. Appears to have a slightly higher surface brightness than NGC 3202 and brighter along the major axis. A threshold star is superimposed NE of the core (GSC shows a mag 15 star 15" NE of center). NGC 3207 lies 2.1' ENE.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3205 = H. II-721 = h699 on 3 Feb 1788 (sweep 804). He noted "faint, very small, stellar" and immediately afterwards logged NGC 3207. On 12 Apr 1830 (sweep 248) John Herschel recorded, "vF; R; very gradually brighter middle; 30"; the second of 3 [with NGC 3202 and 3207] in a triangle."
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10 21 47.6 +56 55 50; UMa
V = 11.9; Size 3.0'x1.9'; Surf Br = 13.6; PA = 0°
17.5" (4/9/94): faint, fairly large, elongated 3:2 N-S,
2.5'x1.5', broad concentration. A
mag 13 star is just off the NNE end 2.1' from the center. A pair of galaxies
William Herschel discovered NGC 3206 = H. I-266 = h697 on 8 Apr 1793 (sweep 1038). He recorded "considerably bright, pretty large, gradually brighter in the middle, irregular figure." He included a sketch in his 1811 PT paper (fig. 17) as an example "of nebulae which are gradually brighter in the middle."
On 9 Feb 1831 (sweep 323), John Herschel logged, "vF; L; E; very gradually little brighter middle; 2' long; 1 1/2' broad."
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NGC 3207 = UGC 5587 = MCG +07-21-043 = CGCG 211-047 = Holm 179b = WBL 264-003 = PGC 30267
10 21 00.6 +42 59 07; UMa
V = 13.2; Size 1.3'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 73°
17.5" (4/9/94): fairly faint, small, almost round, even concentration down to very small core. A mag 13.5 star is 2.0' S. Third of three in a close trio with NGC 3205 2.1' WSW and NGC 3202 5.7' WNW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3207 = H. II-722 = h700, along with NGC 3202 and 3205 on 3 Feb 1788 (sweep 804). He noted "faint, very small, stellar." On 12 Apr 1830 (sweep 248) John Herschel recorded, "vF; R; very gradually brighter middle; 30"; the last of 3 in a triangle [with NGC 3202 and 3205]."
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10 19 41.3 -25 48 53; Hya
V = 12.7; Size 1.8'x1.5'; Surf Br = 13.7; PA = 20°
18" (4/10/04): faint, moderately large, round. At 220x, appears as a low surface
brightness glow with a very weak concentration, ~1.2' diameter. Situated between two mag 10.5 stars -
the closer is 1.6' due west and the second star is 3.0' due E! Outlying member of
Ormond Stone discovered NGC 3208 = LM 1-171 in 1886 with the
26" refractor at Leander McCormick Observatory. His rough position (nearest min of RA) is a reasonable match
with
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10 20 38.5 +25 30 18; Leo
V = 12.6; Size 1.3'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 80°
17.5" (3/25/95): moderately bright, fairly small, round, 0.8' diameter. Sharp concentration with a very small prominent core and stellar nucleus. A mag 11 star is 3.0' W of center.
Forms a pair with
John Herschel discovered NGC 3209 = h701 on 19 Feb 1827
(sweep 58) and recorded "F; R; 30"; has a star." His position matches
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10 27 58.9 +79 49 57; Dra
Size 24"
17.5" (1/28/89): NGC 3210 is a pair of mag 13.5/14.5
stars at 24" separation located just 1' WNW of
William Herschel discovered NGC 3210 = H. III-979, along with NGC 3212 and 3215, on 26 Sep 1802 (sweep 1111, under the pole). He recorded "The preceding [NGC 3210] stellar; they are all in line and about 1' distance from each other. The preceding is the most north, about 2' more than the last." A pair of mag 13.5/14.5 stars at 24" separation is the only object matching his description with respect to the two nearby galaxies. As NGC 3210 was found just after his threshold of 500 new objects was reached, it wasn't included in his third catalogue but John Herschel added III-981 as one of the 8 "HON" objects ("[William] Herschel omitted nebulae") in the Appendix to his Cape Observations.
In the 1912 update to Herschel's catalogues, Dreyer states the RA for NGC 3210 requires a correction of +1.0 tmin in RA (probably based on an observation by Bigourdan) and this would match one or both of the stars. In 1892 William Denning reported "there are two or three faint stars in the place assigned for it [NGC 3210], but, like d'Arrest, I see no nebulosity [in a 10-inch reflector]." Dorothy Carlson identified NGC 3210 as a star in her 1940 paper on NGC corrections.
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10 17 50.3 -62 40 14; Car
V = 10.7; Size 17"
13.1" (2/18/04 - Costa Rica): Picked up unfiltered at 105x as a moderately bright, 15" disc. Good contrast gain with UHC filter. Appears bright, evenly illuminated with a well-defined bluish halo. Appears to float in a beautifully rich Carina star field and centered within a parallelogram of mag 10.5 stars (sides ~9'x7'). Located 1.3° south of the mag 3.4 q Velorum.
18" (7/8/02 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): at 171x and UHC filter this fine planetary appeared as a very bright, round disc, ~15" diameter, crisp-edged with a bluish hue. Good filter response to UHC. The surface brightness was very high and there was a hint of a slightly brighter rim. Set in a rich Carina star field.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3211 = h3242 on 7 Mar 1837 and recorded "planetary nebula, delicate, exactly round, = * 10 mag, a little dim at edges; white; with 320x considerably hazy. In field with at least 150 stars." The next sweep he recorded "perfectly round; very well defined, with a perfectly uniform light, not at all mottled; = a star 10th mag, of which brightness there are 5 or 6 more in the field, and not less than 150 others less bright. Examined by both Mr Maclear and myself with 240x which shows it proportionally magnified; quite round and planetary; a little hazy at the edges, but not more so than is due to the decidedly bad definition of the night, and the imperfect figure of the mirror, which has been injured by careless polishing on too soft a polisher."
******************************
NGC 3212 = Arp 181 NED1 = VV 319b = UGC 5643 = MCG +13-08-021 = CGCG 351-023 = PGC 30813
10 28 16.1 +79 49 23; Dra
V = 13.1; Size 1.5'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 107°
17.5" (1/28/89): faint, very small, round. A pair of mag 13.5/14.5 stars at
24" separation is 1' WNW (= NGC 3210). Forms a pair with
William Herschel discovered NGC 3212 = H. III-980, along with NGC 3210 and 3215, on 26 Sep 1802 (sweep 1111, under the pole). He recorded the trio together as "Three, the place is that of the last [NGC 3215 = III. 981]. The two last [NGC 3212 and 3215] very faint and very small." This was his second to last sweep and NGC 3212 is the 5th most northern galaxy he discovered (using 1800 coordinates). See NGC 3210, which is probably a single or double star.
None of these three objects were included in Herschel's third catalogue as they were discovered just after his 500th discovery limit was reached on the previous discovery (NGC 3057). John Herschel added III. 980 as one of the 8 "HON" objects ("[William] Herschel omitted nebulae") in the Appendix to his Cape Observations. There are only two galaxies here that were measured accurately by d'Arrest and Bigourdan, so NGC 3210 (III. 979) is likely a single or double star.
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10 21 17.3 +19 39 07; Leo
V = 13.5; Size 1.1'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 133°
17.5" (4/25/92): very faint, small, round, low almost
even surface brightness. Located
10' NE of mag 8.1
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3213 = St. 13-58 on 16 Mar 1882. His published position in his 13th list was reduced the following March with description "faint, round, 20" diameter, very little concentration, seems resolvable."
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NGC 3214 = MCG +10-15-071 = CGCG 290-032 = Holm 182a = WBL 265-003 = PGC 30419
10 23 08.9 +57 02 20; UMa
V = 14.0; Size 0.7'x0.3'; PA = 30°
17.5" (4/9/94): first of two with
Ralph Copeland discovered NGC 3214 on 9 Mar 1874 using LdR's
72" while observing GC 2082 = NGC 3220. He recorded "cB, vS, R,
suddenly brighter in the middle to a nucleus = * 11m, pos 277.3°, dist
288.7" It is in a line, Pos
about 100°, between 2 st, about 11m each, dist about 1.5'." Copeland's offset from NGC 3220 matches
******************************
NGC 3215 = Arp 181 NED2 = VV 319a = UGC 5659 = MCG +13-08-022 = CGCG 350-055 = CGCG 351-024 = PGC 30840
10 28 40.4 +79 48 46; Dra
V = 13.0; Size 1.1'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 130°
17.5" (1/28/89): fairly faint, small, slightly elongated. Forms a close pair with NGC 3212 1.2' NW. Collinear with NGC 3212 and pair of mag 13.5/14.5 stars 2.2' NW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3215 = H. III-981, along
with NGC 3210 and 3212, on 26 Sep 1802 (sweep 1111, under the pole). He recorded "Three, the place is
that of the last [NGC 3215]. The
two last [NGC 3212 and 3215] very faint and very small." Caroline's reduced
position is ~4' N of
None of these three objects were included in Herschel's third catalogue as they were discovered just after his 500th discovery limit was reached on the previous object (NGC 3057). John Herschel added III-981 as one of the 8 "HON" objects ("[William] Herschel omitted nebulae") in the Appendix to his Cape Observations. There are only two galaxies here, which were measured accurately by d'Arrest and Bigourdan. NGC 3210 is either a star or wide double star.
According to Wolfgang Steinicke, Herschel first discovered this galaxy on 5 Apr 1801 (unregistered sweep 1097) with the telescope misaligned to the meridian in the north. It was still in this orientation after problematic sweep 1096, three nights earlier. Positions in this discarded sweep weren't determined as there was no appropriate offset star. A note was added that the scope was off the meridian by "at least 5 or 6 degrees in azimuth".
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10 21 41.2 +23 55 23; Leo
V = 13.4; Size 1.3'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.7; PA = 0°
17.5" (3/25/95): faint, fairly small, elongated 4:3
N-S, 0.9'x0.7', weak concentration.
Located 4.7' ENE of a mag 10.5 star. Brightest in a group with
William Herschel discovered NGC 3216 = H. III-330 = h702 on 10 Apr 1785 (sweep 394) and noted "vF, pS, very little brighter middle." On 28 Mar 1832 (sweep 407) John Herschel logged, "eF; R; 20" diameter."
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10 23 32.6 +10 57 35; Leo
V = 14.5; Size 0.5'x0.4'; Surf Br = 12.5; PA = 30°
24" (4/15/23): at 327x and 375x; between faint and
pretty faint, small, round, 20" diameter, very small brighter center. A
mag 14.3 star is 1.4' SW. Located
25' NW of mag 6.8
18" (3/11/07): faint, small, slightly elongated,
0.4'x0.3', weak concentration.
Situated in a small group of mag 13-14 stars and a mag 11.6 star 2.6'
SE. Discovered by David Todd in
his search for a trans-Neptunian planet and equivalent to
David Todd discovered NGC 3217 = Todd 29 on 4 Mar 1878 using the 26-inch Clark refractor at the US Naval Observatory during his search for a trans-Neptunian planet. Todd's RA was only reported to the nearest minute of time (roughly 15') but Harold Corwin was able to identify CGCG 065-017 = PGC 30448 as NGC 3217. This galaxy is 2.1 minutes of time east of Todd's rough position and 4' north but his sketch shows two nearby stars that match this galaxy.
Stephane Javelle independently found NGC 3217 on 18 Apr 1893 and reported it in list 2-676 (later IC 606). PGC, MCG, CGCG and SIMBAD (and amateur software such as Megastar) use the IC designation only and RNGC misclassifies NGC 3217 as nonexistent. NED and HyperLeda equate the two identities.
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10 21 49.4 +74 10 37; Dra
V = 11.9; Size 2.3'x1.4'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 170°
See observing notes for NGC 3183.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3218 = H. I-283 on 2 Apr 1801 (sweep 1096). He recorded "considerably bright, considerably large, easily resolvable." This is one of 15 far northern galaxies with large systematic errors due to a misidentification of the offset star and the telescope misaligned off the meridian by 7°. A corrected position matching UGC 5582 was published in 1911 using plates taken at the Greenwich Observatory with the 30-inch reflector.
Heinrich d'Arrest independently discovered this galaxy on 28 Sep 1865 and measured an accurate position. Dreyer assumed it was a new object and catalogued the galaxy again as NGC 3183. So NGC 3218 = NGC 3183. The modern designation of this galaxy is NGC 3183, despite the earlier discovery of NGC 3218 by Herschel.
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10 22 37.4 +38 34 45; LMi
V = 14.4; Size 0.8'x0.5'; PA = 60°
18" (4/10/04): very faint, small, slightly elongated
0.5'x0.4', weak concentration.
Situated in the middle of a thin triangle of mag 11-12 stars with a 1.6'
pair of mag 11.5/12 stars ~2.5' W and a mag 11 star 3' E. Forms a close pair with
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3219 = St. 12-38 on 8 Apr
1882. His position, reduced three
days later, matches
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NGC 3220 = IC 604 = UGC 5614 = MCG +10-15-073 = CGCG 290-034 = Holm 182b = WBL 265-004 = PGC 30462
10 23 45.2 +57 01 38; UMa
V = 13.0; Size 1.7'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 97°
17.5" (4/9/94): brighter of a pair with NGC 3214 5.0' W. Fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 3:1 E-W, 1.5'x0.5', weak concentration. Forms the west vertex of a near isosceles triangle with a mag 11 star 5.5' NE and a mag 10 star 6.5' ESE. The mag 10 star is an unequal triple with two 14th magnitude companions at 18" and 27".
William Herschel discovered NGC 3220 = H. III-911 on 8 Apr 1793 (sweep 1038). He noted "very faint, considerably large, irregular figure., cL, iF."
Birr Castle assistant Ralph Copeland on 9 Mar 1874 recorded
"pF, L, considerably elongated 91.5°, *14 Pos 145.6°, Dist 94", *8m
Pos 102.1°, Dist 393.3°. The NGC
description is based on this observation.
Lewis Swift found this galaxy again on 8 Aug 1890, and reported it as
new in his 9th discovery lists, #22 (later
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10 22 20.2 +21 34 07; Leo
V = 13.1; Size 3.2'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.8; PA = 167°
17.5" (4/13/91): fairly faint, moderately large, edge-on 4:1 NNW-SSE, 3.0'x0.7', brighter middle but no nucleus. A mag 11 star is 4.6' S of center.
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3221 on 1 Jan 1862. His description reads, "eF, incredibly thin, 90" length, mag 10 star 4' south."
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10 22 34.5 +19 53 13; Leo
V = 12.8; Size 1.3'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 50°
17.5" (4/25/92): fairly faint, small, slightly elongated SW-NE, small bright core, faint halo. A mag 14.5 star is just south of the west edge 0.6' from center. A mag 11.5 star lies 2.9' S. FIrst of three with the NGC 3226/3227 duo 13' E in field.
Friedrich August Winnecke discovered NGC 3222 = Au 27 in
March 1855 with a 9.6-in Fraunhofer refractor at the Berlin Observatory. It was found "while observing the
double nebula [
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10 21 35.1 -34 16 01; Ant
V = 11.0; Size 4.1'x2.5'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 135°
18" (4/10/04): fairly bright, moderately large,
elongated 5:3 NW-SE, 2.0'x1.2'.
Increases to a moderately bright 30" core. A mag 11 star is just off the SE end
and one or two faint stars are superimposed in the halo. This was a surprisingly easy galaxy and
bright for a low elevation (~15 degrees).
NGC 3223 is an outlyting member of the Antlia cluster (ACO S636),
situated about 1.5° NW of the center of the cluster.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3223 = h3243 on 2 Feb 1835 and
recorded "pB; vL; vlE; pretty suddenly little brighter middle; to a
centre; diam 2'." His
position is on the northeast side of
Lewis Swift found the galaxy again on 30 Dec 1897, assumed
it was new and reported Sw. 11-107 (later
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NGC 3224 = ESO 375-013 = MCG -06-23-024 = LGG 196-006 = PGC 30314
10 21 41.2 -34 41 49; Ant
V = 12.0; Size 1.9'x1.5'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 133°
18" (4/10/04): fairly faint, failry small, slightly
elongated, 0.8'x0.7'. Well concentrated with a small, bright core. Outlying member of the Antlia Cluster
(ACO S636). Found by starhopping
from brighter
John Herschel discovered NGC 3224 = h3244 on 18 Apr 1835 and
recorded "vF; R; pretty gradually much brighter middle;
40"." His position
matches
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NGC 3225 = UGC 5631 = MCG +10-15-077 = CGCG 290-037 = PGC 30569
10 25 10.0 +58 09 00; UMa
V = 12.6; Size 2.0'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 155°
17.5" (4/9/94): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1 NNW-SSE, very weak concentration. A mag 14 star is 1.2' NNE of center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3225 = H. II-882 = h703 on 8 Apr 1793 (sweep 1038). He noted "pretty bright, pretty large, little extended, brighter middle." On 9 Feb 1831 (sweep 323) John Herschel logged, "pF; L; E; very gradually brighter middle; 30" to 40" [diameter]."
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NGC 3226 = Arp 94 NED1 = VV 209b = Holm 187b = UGC 5617 =
10 23 27.0 +19 53 54; Leo
V = 11.4; Size 3.2'x2.8'; Surf Br = 13.8; PA = 15°
48" (4/22/17): at 375x and 488x; very bright,
moderately large, slightly elongated, ~1.8'x 1.5'. Sharply concentrated with an intensely bright non-stellar
nucleus. The halo has only a weak
concentration and with averted vision appears to merge with the halo of
17.5" (4/25/92): moderately bright and large, slightly elongated SSW-NNE, smoothly increases from halo to a bright core and an almost stellar nucleus. The halo extends to almost 2' diameter with averted vision and fades into background. Forms a striking pair with NGC 3227 at the south side with 2.3' separation between centers. The outer halo is just in contact with NGC 3227 at the SSE edge. NGC 3222 lies 13' W.
13.1" (4/16/83): fairly faint, broad concentration to a brighter middle.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3226 = H. II-28, along with
NGC 3227, on 15 Feb 1784 (sweep 146). He described both as "Two nebula
almost close together. Perhaps 1
1/2 or 2' asunder, they are pretty considerable in size and of a roundish form;
but not cometic; they are vF."
Later in the same sweep he discovered the pair
Father Secchi found NGC 3226 and 3227 on 6 Mar 1853 with the 9.5-inch Merz refractor at the Roman College observatory and announced the pair as new in Astronomische Nachrichten 36, p. 243 (1853). He mentioned the nebulae were "not listed in Herschel's Observations of nebulae and clusters of stars [Slough catalogue]." Like a number of observers, Secchi missed the prior discovery as he only checked the Slough catalogue or was misled by Herschel's poor positions. In 1855, d'Arrest reported these nebulae were discovered previously.
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NGC 3227 = Arp 94 NED2 = VV 209a = Holm 187a = UGC 5620 =
10 23 30.6 +19 51 55; Leo
V = 10.3; Size 5.4'x3.6'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 155°
48" (4/22/17): at 375x and 488x; very bright, large, elongated ~2:1 NNW-SSE. ~3'x 1.5'. Contains a very sharp, intensely bright stellar nucleus within a very bright elongated core. The large, elongated halo displays two subtle spiral arms. A broad, low surface brightness arm is attached on the NNW end and sweeps south on the east side, ending just west of a mag 14.7 star, which is 2.3' SE of center. A second broad arm emerges roughly on the southwest side and shoots north on the west side, extending to the halo of NGC 3226 [centers of the two galaxies separated by 2.2'].
17.5" (4/25/92): fairly bright, fairly bright, elongated 5:2 NW-SE, 2.5'x1.0', prominent very small high surface brightness core, striking stellar nucleus. Just in contact with NGC 3226 at the NW tip 2.3' separation between cores. Brightest of three with NGC 3222 13' W.
13.1" (4/16/83): fairly bright, elongated, bright core, stellar nucleus. This Seyfert galaxy forms a contact system with NGC 3226 2' NNW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3227 = H. II-29, along with NGC 3226, on 15 Feb 1784 (sweep 146). See notes for NGC 3226.
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10 21 22 -51 43 24; Vel
V = 6.0; Size 18'
13.1" (2/18/04 - Costa Rica): bright, 15' open cluster in Vela. Prominent in 9x50 finder and easy in 10x30 IS binoculars. The main portion consists of 9 mag 8-10 stars. Scattered about are a few additional mag 9 and 10 stars in a 15' field. Perhaps 3 dozen stars total are within the boundary, though besides the bright stars the remaining are mostly mag 13-14 and appear to be a random background scattering of stars in a rich Milky Way field.
Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille discovered NGC 3228 = Lac II-7 = D 386 = h3245 in 1751-1752 with a 1/2-inch telescope at 8x. He called it a "heap of four or five stars, very small and compressed."
James Dunlop observed the cluster twice outside Sydney, Australia (first on 9 May 1826) and reported "11 Roboris Caroli. A group of 8 or 10 pretty bright small stars, with very small stars, about 6' diameter." On 6 Apr 1834 (sweep 438), John Herschel called this "a group of 9 large, and a few scattered small stars."
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10 23 24.3 +00 03 54; Sex
V = 13.6/15.8; Size 9"
= **, Corwin. Incorrect identification in the RNGC.
Sidney Coolidge discovered NGC 3229 = HN 16 on 31 Mar 1850
with the 15-inch refractor of Harvard College Observatory during the Zone
Survey of equatorial stars. He
simply noted a "faint nebulous object", but at his exact position is
a double star at 10 23 24.3 +00 03 54.
The RNGC misidentifies
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10 23 44.0 +12 33 59; Leo
V = 12.8; Size 2.3'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.7; PA = 115°
48" (5/8/21): at 375x; bright, fairly large, elongated 5:2 WNW-ESE, 1.4'x0.6'. Strong concentration with a bright core and stellar nucleus. The beginning root of a curving spiral arm is on the WNW end and a less defined counterpart on the ESE end. A mag 11.3 star is attached on the south side, just 0.3' from center.
17.5" (3/22/96): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 3:2 WNW-ESE, 1.0'x0.7'. Fairly sharp concentration with a small bright core and occasional stellar nucleus. Unusual appearance with a mag 10 star superimposed at the south edge.
UGC 5625, situated 4' NNE, appeared very faint, fairly small, very elongated 3:1 SW-NE, 0.9'x0.3', low even surface brightness. A mag 12 star lies 1.1' NW.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3230 = h705 on 23 Mar 1830 (sweep 242) and wrote, "a triple star in nebula, a fourth star suspected." The next night he logged, "A very close D* of the first class involved in a nebulous wisp. 'A most curious, delicate and interesting object'."
In 1885, Herbert Sadler of England claimed to detect a change in the position (proper motion) relative to a nearby double star. Dreyer replied that there was no evidence of motion.
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10 26 58 +66 48 42; UMa
Size 2.5'
18" (3/5/05): 16 stars are visible in an 8'
region. The stars are distributed
into two groups oriented NW-SE.
The northwest group stands out more distinctly as it is a bit richer and
more compact (~2.5' diameter) and contains a mag 11.5/13 pair at 18". The sparser SE group also contains a
mag 13 pair at 17". At the SE
edge of the 225x field (9' SE of the NW grouping) is mag 7.9
John Herschel discovered NGC 3231 = h704 on 3 Apr 1832 (sweep 412) and recorded "A cluster of 20 stars more or less, 10,11, and 12m, scattered over a space of 10' dia. A star 7m south." Heinrich d'Arrest noted the principal star was double. This group is apparently an asterism although it stands out well on the DSS, being detached from the surrounding field.
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10 24 24.3 +28 01 40; LMi
V = 14.2; Size 0.7'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.1
17.5" (3/25/95): very faint, very small, round,
25" diameter, low even surface brightness. Located 2.5' NE of a mag 10 star. Forms a pair with brighter
On the SDSS, this is a superposed (merging?) pair of galaxies, though it was not seen as double.
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3232, along with NGC 3235, on 29 Dec 1861. His single position is less than 1' to the SSE and his description mentions a mag 11-12 star is 150" southwest). So the identification is certain.
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10 21 57.5 -22 16 04; Hya
V = 12.5; Size 1.7'x0.9'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 140°
17.5" (4/13/02): faint, small, elongated nearly 2:1 NW-SE, 1.0'x0.6', irregular surface brightness. There is possibly a very faint envelope surrounding the main bar. Located 16' NNE of mag 6.5 HD 89828.
Ormond Stone discovered NGC 3233 = LM 1-172 in 1886 with the
26" refractor at Leander McCormick Observatory. His rough position (nearest min of RA) is 1 min of time west
of
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10 24 59.3 +28 01 26; LMi
See observing notes for NGC 3235.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3234 = h706 on 24 Dec 1827 (sweep 115) and noted "pB; R: pretty suddenly brighter middle; 30"." There is nothing at his position, though his brightness estimate of "pB" implies a duplicate observation (with a bad position) of a reasonably bright galaxy. In the GC, JH mentioned it might be a comet.
This object was not found in six attempts at Birr Castle
(1852-56), and Reinmuth and Carlson also reported it as not found, based on
photographic searches. In the NGC
Notes section, Dreyer states that NGC 3234 is probably identical to NGC 3235
with a 1 degree error in declination.
In the
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NGC 3235 = NGC 3234? = UGC 5635 = MCG +05-25-007 = CGCG 154-010 = PGC 30553
10 24 59.3 +28 01 26; LMi
V = 13.3; Size 1.2'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 85°
17.5" (3/25/95): faint, small, round, 40"
diameter, slightly brighter core, faint stellar nucleus. A mag 13 star is 3.1' NNW. Brightest in a group with NGC 3232 7.7'
W and
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3235, along with NGC 3232,
on 29 Dec 1861. His position,
measured on 3 nights, matches
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10 26 48.5 +61 16 23; UMa
V = 14.4; Size 0.75'x0.5'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 52°
17.5" (4/9/94): faint, very small, round, weak concentration. A mag 13 star is 1.5' ESE and a mag 12 star 2.8' SE. Located 4.0' NE of a mag 10.5 star.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3236 = h707 on 25 Mar 1832 (sweep 406) and recorded "eF; S; pretty suddenly brighter middle; 8"; 2 st 11 and 12m follow."
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10 25 43.3 +39 38 47; UMa
V = 13.0; Size 1.3'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.4
17.5" (4/13/02): fairly faint, fairly small, round, 0.8' diameter, brighter core. An uneven mag 12/14 double is 3' N and trailing from this pair is a string of three mag 10.5-11.5 (total length including double of 10').
William Herschel discovered NGC 3237 = H. III-631 = h709 on
18 Mar 1787 (sweep 716) and noted "vF, vS. With 300 the same." Caroline's reduced position is 6' SSE of
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10 26 43.0 +57 13 35; UMa
V = 12.9; Size 1.4'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.4
17.5" (4/9/94): fairly faint, fairly small, slightly elongated N-S, even concentration with brighter core and faint stellar nucleus. Forms a pair with MCG +10-15-079 5.4' NW. NGC 3220 lies 27' SW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3238 = H. II-883 = h708 on 8 Apr 1793 (sweep 1038). He noted "faint, small, round, brighter middle." On 9 Feb 1831 (sweep 323) John Herschel reported "Not vF; R; pretty suddenly little brighter middle; 20" [diameter]."
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10 25 05.5 +17 09 35; Leo
V = 11.3; Size 5.0'x3.3'; Surf Br = 14.2; PA = 80°
48" (5/4/16): NGC 3239 was examined at 488x,
specifically looking for the two tidal tails not seen in the previous
observation with Lowrey's 48".
A very faint curving tail or hook (identified as "Tail A" in
Krienke & Hodge's 1990 paper "The structure of the irregular galaxy,
NGC 3239") was seen extending from the very bright HII knot (
Beyond the west end of the main glow is a fairly wide, very low surface brightness glow (the start of "Tail B") in the direction of a mag 12.5 star (2.4' due W of the bright star); it then sweeps broadly towards the south. A narrow extension heading southwest ends at a faint HII knot, perhaps 6" diameter, which is identified in NED as NGC 3239:[HK83] 75 and 80.
48" (2/19/12): NGC 3239 = Arp 263 is a large, disrupted irregular, dominated by numerous HII regions. It was a fascinating sight at 488x. A mag 10 star is superimposed on the southwest side of the galaxy with the patchy, highly irregular surface brightness glow of the galaxy extending mainly north and east of the star.
A very bright, round knot of ~15" diameter is prominent on the southeast side of the galaxy. This HII complex is catalogued as VV 95b in NED and as region #6 and #10 in Hodge-Kennicutt's 1983 "An Atlas of HII Regions in 125 Galaxies". A faint star or knot is attached on the N side. A "star" recorded just off the W side of this knot turned out to be supernova SN 2012A, discovered on 7 Jan 2012, still currently around 14th magnitude. Very faint haze extends southeast of VV 95b, but the "tail" structure was not seen.
Along the N side of the galaxy (elongated E-W) are several
additional knots. About 30" due
N of
18" (3/28/09): moderately bright and large, irregular
shape and mottled appearance, elongated ~2:1 E-W, ~1.0'x0.5'. A mag 9.5 star is superimposed on the
SW side with the brighter portion of the galaxy extending to the east. On the SW end of the galaxy is a bright
HII knot (VV 95B = Hodge-Kennicutt #10) of ~20" diameter. The galaxy has a patchy surface
brightness with an ill-defined, irregular halo. A number of fainter galaxies are in the field (background
cluster) including
17.5" (4/13/91): fairly faint, moderately large, elongated 2:1 E-W, very unusual appearance as a mag 9 star (BD+17 2217) is superimposed on the south side. An unusually bright knot is following the bright star by 51" on the SE side of the galaxy. This is possibly an offset nucleus or more likely an HII knot. The galaxy appears to extend to the west from this knot. The galaxy exhibits an irregular surface brightness with edges difficult to define as it fades into the background. The halo is more extensive to the north with averted vision. About 2' NW and 2' W are two mag 11 and 12 stars.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3239 = H. IV-10 = h710 =
h3246 on 21 Mar 1784 (sweep 181)and recorded "A pretty considerable star,
with a milky vF brush after it.
The position of the brush is about 15 or 20° nf. With 240 I saw 2 vF stars towards the
confines of the brush; but they seemed to have no connection with it. The bright star is the following one of
a triangle, the preceding stars of which are a little smaller. It precedes a large star 3 1/2 min of
time and is 2' more north."
His description and position applies to
10 observations were made at Birr Castle, with knots in NGC
3239 mentioned several times. On
10 Jan 1856, R.J. Mitchell commented "A knot north of the star and another
nff, the space between them and the star is filled with faint mottled
nebulosity. A star suspected in np
end of the following knot. A very
faint nebula suspected following?".
The last comment probably refers to
On the POSS, the bright knot on the southeast end seems like it could be an interacting galaxy but on the SDSS it looks like a large, blue HII region. Also the area immediately north seems dusty. Contains unusual asymmetric arcs to the south as if very disturbed. This galaxy has a listed redshift of only 0.0025, while the surrounding galaxies (6 viewed on 3/28/09) have a redshift of z = .044.
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10 24 30.6 -21 47 28; Hya
V = 13.2; Size 1.1'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 78°
17.5" (2/22/03): faint, fairly small, elongated 4:3 E-W, 0.8'x0.6', weak concentration. A mag 14 star is 0.8' SSE of center just outside the halo.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3240 = h3247 on 20 Mar 1835 and
reported "eF; S; R; near a star." His position from two sweeps matches
******************************
10 24 16.9 -32 28 58; Ant
V = 12.2; Size 2.2'x1.5'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 123°
18" (4/10/04): fairly faint, moderately large, elongated 4:3 NW-SE, 1.3'x1.0'. Weak concentration with no distinguishable core. A mag 11 star is close off the NW edge, 1.4' from center and the galaxy is elongated in the direction of the star. Scattered groups of mag 10 stars lie ~20' E and a similar distance west. Outlying member of the Antlia cluster (ACO S636).
John Herschel discovered NGC 3241 = h3249 on 16 Feb 1836 and
logged "F pmE gradually little brighter middle; has a *11m north
preceding." His position is
1' N of
******************************
NGC 3242 = PK 261+32.1 = ESO 568-5 = PN G261.0+32.0 = Eye Nebula = The Ghost of Jupiter = The CBS Eye
10 24 46.1 -18 38 32; Hya
V = 7.3; Size 40"x35"
82" (5/4/19): at 400x; fairly prominent wings or handles were visible on both ends of the major axis of the inner lens. Both "handles" extended well into the halo and greatly increased the length of the bright lens, which showed a couple of brighter interior knots. The halo was surrounded by an obvious outer shell.
48" (4/18/15 and 5/1/19): In addition to the structure previously noted, the sharply defined inner ring clearly has lower surface brightness extensions at the northwest and southeast end, creating an inner lens. The bulge on the northwest end is a bit larger and brighter, though the southeast end of the ring has a slightly brighter knot.
Two galaxies are nearby.
48" (2/18/12 and 5/14/12): at 814x, the multiple ring structure was remarkable. The small, dark central hole and bright central star was surrounded by a beautiful inner lens, elongated 3:2 NW-SE, ~25"x15". This vivid turquoise lens was brighter at the ends of the major axis and bulges out with an extension on the northwest end. Surrounding the lens was a broader halo or shell with a rounder outline, ~45"x35" NW-SE. This shell had a distinctive light pink or salmon color. Highlighting the very edge of this shell is an extremely thin, slightly brighter greenish ring. A low surface brightness outer halo surrounds the planetary.
48" (4/1/11): stunning view at 488x with a high contrast, high surface brightness double ring structure and an outer third shell. The small inner lens has an electric turquoise color and is elongated 3:2 NW-SE, ~25"x15". At the southeast end of the major axis of the inner ring is a well-defined, bright knot. The irregular inner ring is also brighter and thicker along the northwest end, though not as bright or sharply defined as the southeast knot. The dim central portion is punctuated by the bright central star. The outer ring is rounder and extends ~45"x35" NW-SE, with the limb unevenly lit. The greenish color is not as intense in the outer ring. Between the two main rings the nebulosity has a pinkish hue. The main structure was surrounded by a low surface brightness outer halo, at least 1.5' diameter, which significantly increased the total size!
18" (4/9/05): at 435x, the double shell structure was prominent and exhibited filametary structure outside the inner ring.
17.5" (3/25/00): this beautiful PN has a very high surface brightness and a bluish color at 100x. The view at 280x-380x was stunning with a well-defined double shell structure. The bright, narrow inner ring is surrounded by a second fainter oval envelope. Inside the bright lens is a dark, 10" donut-hole with a faint central star marking the center. In moments of steady seeing, the inner ring has a hard-edge and the central star is easier.
17.5" (1/31/87): at 415x appears very bright, fairly small, bluish color, central star is visible. Prominent double lens structure with a bright inner lens surrounded by a second fainter elliptical shell. Stunning at high power with a striking "eye" appearance with a darker center.
13.1" (many dates 3/24/84 to 4/10/86): very bright, bright inner lens surrounded by a second fainter elliptical shell. At 350x there is a darker center to the inner lens and the central star is visible almost continuously. Superb view at 535x in excellent seeing.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3242 = H. IV-27 = h3248 on 7
Feb 1785 (sweep 368). He
description reads, "A beautiful, very brilliant globe of light; a little
hazy on the edges, but the haziness goes off very suddenly. I suppose it to be
from 30 to 40" in diameter, perhaps a very little elliptical. The light of
it seems to be all over of the uniform intensity of a star of the 9th
magnitude. The haziness of the
edges does not exceed the 20th part of the diameter." The same night he
discovered the planetary
William Lassell observed NGC 3242 on 12 Mar 1853 with his 24-inch equatorial reflector on Malta and noted "a brilliant light blue colour with slight green tinge." The double ring structure was described at Birr Castle, as well as the northwest extension of the inner ring. On 6 Apr 1863 Samuel Hunter logged,"Outer ring is brightest north and south and fainter preceding, but vF on sf side, it does not appear so blue as the inner and brighter one....The little projection of np end of the bright ring is very marked." E.E. Barnard and Sherburne Burnham observed the planetary with the 36-inch at Lick Observatory on 25 Feb 1889. Barnard described in his logbook "a glowing star in center of dark space, this in in parallelogram or diamond shape () of beautiful bluish green. This in an elliptical rose colored disc." James Keeler's sketch on 30 Mar 1891 with the 36-inch shows both extensions of the inner ring along the major axis.
Sir William Huggins observed an emission line spectrum in 1865 and it was confirmed by Lieutenant John Herschel, son of John Herschel, in 1868 while stationed in Bangalore, India. Huggins also examined it with his 8" refractor and reported "Powers of 600 and 920 diameters showed that the nebula is annular. It appears to consist of an oval ring of brighter matter surrounded by a broad margin of faint nebulosity. The area enclosed by the ring is filled with faintly luminous matter. The faint nebuosity surrounding the ring appears circular, or nearly so, suggesting the ring, seen obliquely from our system, extists with a globular mass of faint nebuous material."
Admiral Smyth noted the planetary "resembles Jupiter" in his "Cycle of Celestial Objects" (1844), following Herschel’s published description. The specific moniker "Ghost of Jupiter" was first used by Captain William Noble in the 1882 issue of Knowledge. He wrote "It will be a seen as a pale-blue disc, looking just like the ghost of Jupiter." The description was repeated in his book "Hours with a Three-Inch Telescope" (London and New York, 1886). In his 1909 book "In Starland with a Three-Inch telescope” William Tyler Olcott also stated "It will be seen like a pale blue disk, like a ghost of jupiter"
Based on Crossley photographs at Lick, Curtis (1918) reported "the inner, roughly elliptical ring with its slightly fainter extensions is about 26"x16" in pa 145°. The outer and considerably fainter oval disk is 40"x35", and shows faint ring or shell effects at its edges.
******************************
10 26 21.4 -02 37 20; Sex
V = 12.6; Size 1.4'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 125°
17.5" (3/29/97): fairly faint, fairly small, round,
40" diameter, moderate concentration to a very small brighter core and occasional
stellar nucleus (possibly offset from center). Located 1.5' SE of a mag 10.5 star and a similar star is 4'
NNE.
Lewis Swift discovered NGC 3243 = Sw. 3-54 on 2 Apr 1886 and
noted "vF; S; lE; between a pB and a vF *." His position is 10 tsec west and 1' south of
******************************
10 25 28.9 -39 49 41; Ant
V = 12.3; Size 2.0'x1.5'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 170°
17.5" (3/28/87): faint, very diffuse, almost
round. A mag 11 star is 1.9'
N. Located 14' NW of
John Herschel discovered NGC 3244 = h4019 on 22 Apr 1835 and
recorded "vF; above a * 11m, dist 1.5'." It was included in a "supplementary nebulae" list
at the end of the Cape catalogue (h4016 to h4021) which Dreyer identified as
"h o n" ([John] Herschel Omitted Object) in the NGC. His position and description matches
******************************
10 27 18.4 +28 30 26; LMi
V = 10.8; Size 3.2'x1.8'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 177°
14.5" (4/13/23): at 158x and 226x; fairly bright, oval at least 3:2 N-S, ~2.0' x 1.25'. Sharp and strong concentration with a very bright elongated core that increases to a stellar or nearly stellar peak
17.5" (3/29/97): bright, fairly large, elongated ~3:2
N-S, 2.2'x1.3'. Unusually bright
30" core, increases to a very small but nonstellar nucleus. The faint edge-on
William Herschel discovered NGC 3245 = H. I-86 = h711 on 11 Apr 1785 (sweep 396). His description reads "considerably bright, pretty large, much brighter middle, the greatest brightness a little elongated." John Herschel made 5 observations calling the galaxy "very bright" on 4 of his sweeps.
******************************
10 26 41.8 +03 51 43; Sex
V = 12.7; Size 2.4'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.8; PA = 100°
17.5" (3/25/00): faint, moderately large, oval 3:2 E-W,
broad weak concentration, 1.5'x1.0'.
Forms the northern vertex of an equilateral triangle with two mag
11.5-12.5 stars 2.8' SW and 3.0' SSW of center. Located 9' SW of mag 6.7
John Herschel discovered NGC 3246 = h712 on 9 Apr 1828 and
recorded "eF; S; R: two stars, 10 and 11m sp, dist 90"." HIs position and description matches
******************************
10 24 13 -57 45 48; Car
Size 6'x4'
14" (4/4/16 - Coonabarabran, 145x and 230x): NGC 3247
consists of a compact cluster (often referred to as Westerlund 2), one of the
most massive young star clusters known in the Milky Way, and a large, irregular
H II region (Gum 22 = RCW 49) with star-forming pillars similar to the Eagle
Nebula. At 230x, the cluster
extended ~1.5', but the richest part was a dense, elongated clump only 45"
long with a half-dozen tightly packed mag 13.5-14 stars resolved in an WNW-ESE
string. Off the SW side is mag
13.5 WR 20a, one of the most massive binary systems (both superluminous O3-type
stars). The cluster is situated
12' N of mag 5.8
At 145x, fairly faint emission haze was easily visible in an irregular 2.5' region just to the east of Westerlund 2. A mag 12 star is embedded near the center of the nebula, a mag 11.5 star is just off the north edge and a few additional stars are involved. Adding a NPB filter, RCW 49 transformed into a fairly bright, irregular nebula! The brightest part (centered on the star) was roughly circular with a well-defined northern boundary, but it spread further south and southwest to a ~4'x3' region.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3247 = h3250 on 1 Apr 1834 and described "a curious object. Stars involved in evident nebula." The next sweep he logged, "there is a nebulous appearance, which merits re-examination. Observed much past meridian, and no reliance on the PD [polar distance]." A third observation only has a very approximate polar distance. His rough (mean) position is 10 24.8 -57 51 (2000). Joseph Turner unsuccessfully searched for this object using the 48" Melbourne Telescope on 12 Feb 1879, as well as Pietro Baracchi on three different occasions, perhaps due to Herschel's poor position.
Using a Harvard plate, DeLisle Stewart identified NGC 3247
at 10 23 58 -57 48.5 (2000), and Dreyer repeated this position in the IC 2
notes. Brian Skiff places NGC 3247
more accurately at 10 24 01 -57 45.6, corresponding with
******************************
10 27 45.4 +22 50 49; Leo
V = 12.4; Size 2.5'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 135°
17.5" (3/25/95): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated
2:1 NW-SE, 0.8x0.4, sharp concentration with a bright prominent core and
stellar nucleus. A mag 13.5 star
lies 1.7' S of center. Located 6.5'
S of mag 9.1
William Herschel discovered NGC 3248 = H. II-347 = h713 on 10 Apr 1785 (sweep 394) and noted "pB, S, bM, r." His position is a good match with UGC 5669. John Herschel observed it on 3 sweeps, calling it "F" on 24 Feb 1827 (sweep 59) and "pB" on 25 Mar 1830 (sweep 244). The Slough Catalogue has a typo; read H. II-347 for H. II-374. He corrected the error in the General Catalogue.
******************************
10 26 22.1 -34 57 50; Ant
V = 12.9; Size 1.6'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.6; PA = 139°
18" (4/10/04): extremely faint, moderately large, round, 1.0' diameter. Requires averted vision and concentration to glimpse a very low surface brightness circular patch with no details. Located 4.3' SE of a mag 10.5 star. Member of the Antlia Cluster (ACO S636).
John Herschel discovered NGC 3249 = h3251 on 2 Feb 1835 and
recorded "eF; pL; R; very gradually very little brighter middle;
60"." His position
matches
******************************
NGC 3250 = ESO 317-026 = MCG -07-22-007 = LGG 199-005 = PGC 30671
10 26 32.3 -39 56 39; Ant
V = 11.1; Size 2.8'x2.0'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 148°
17.5" (3/28/87): moderately bright, fairly small,
slightly elongated, bright core. A
mag 12 star is 3.8' NE. Forms a
pair with NGC 3244 14' NW.
Brightest in a group (LGG 199) including
John Herschel discovered NGC 3250 = h3252 on 1 Feb 1835 and
recorded "pB; R; pretty suddenly brighter middle; 30"; has a * 13m
nf." His position (measured
accurately on 4 other sweeps) and description matches
******************************
10 29 16.8 +26 05 57; Leo
V = 13.3; Size 2.0'x0.4'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 55°
17.5" (4/13/91): fairly faint, fairly small, very
elongated 4:1 SW-NE, weak concentration.
Located 7' SW of mag 8.8
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3251 on 19 Feb 1862 and
recorded "vF, pL, 3 bright star precede to the south." There is
nothing at his position, but exactly 1.0 min of time following is
Stephane Javelle found the galaxy again on 2 Apr 1900 and
assumed it was new. His position
for J. 3-1158 (later
******************************
10 34 22.6 +73 45 51; Dra
V = 13.5; Size 2.0'x0.6'; Surf Br = 13.6; PA = 35°
17.5" (1/28/89): fairly faint, fairly small, edge-on 4:1 NNW-SSE. A double star ∑1437 = 7.6/10.1 at 32" lies 5' N.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3252 = H. III-316 on 3 Apr
1785 (sweep 390) and noted "eF, mE, pL, r." Caroline's reduced position is 6.5' northwest of
An accurate position was given in MN, 71, 509 (based on the Greenwich plate to determine positions on the sweep of 2 Apr 1801). UGC does not label its entry (UGC 5732) as NGC 3252. See Corwin's identification notes.
******************************
10 28 27.4 +12 42 14; Leo
V = 13.6; Size 1.2'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.8
17.5" (3/25/00): very faint, fairly small, round, 45" diameter, low surface brightness, very weak concentration. Located 3' S of a mag 10.8 star.
Lewis Swift discovered NGC 3253 = Sw. 3-55 on 27 Apr 1886
and noted "vF, pS, R."
His position is 6 tsec west and 1' south of
******************************
10 29 19.9 +29 29 30; LMi
V = 11.7; Size 5.0'x1.6'; Surf Br = 13.8; PA = 46°
17.5" (4/9/94): moderately bright, moderately large, edge-on 4:1 SW-NE, 3.0'x0.8', sharp concentration with small oval core surrounded by faint unconcentrated extensions, occasional very faint stellar nucleus. A mag 14 star is 2.9' W and a pair of mag 10 stars at 1.2' separation follows by 6'. Member of the NGC 3245 group (LGG 197)
William Herschel discovered NGC 3254 = H. I-72 = h714 on 13 Mar 1785 (sweep 386) and recorded "cB, cL, E, mbM. The brightness [core] also extended." John Herschel made a total of 3 observations. Lord Rosse assistant R.J. Mitchell noted, "dark spaces suspected", in his 20 Mar 1854 observation at Birr Castle.
******************************
10 26 31 -60 40 42; Car
V = 11.0; Size 2'
14" (4/4/16 - Coonabarabran, 145x and 178x): small, glowing spot only 1' diameter at 145x. A half-dozen stars are resolved over haze at 178x. A mag 12.5-13 star is at the southeast edge and a mag 13.5 star is on the south side of the main clump. Most of the others are mag 14-14.5.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3255 = h3253 on 4 Feb 1835 (sweep 543) and described "a very compressed knot or cluster of milky way stars, 4' in diameter, somewhat insulated from the rest. Stars .. 15th mag." Pietro Baracchi wrote "a knot of stars 15m amidst the multitude of stars of the Milky Way - no properly a cluster. Rather a group hardly more conspicuous than many other groups of stars hereabout." (28 Jan 1886, Melbourne telescope). This small cluster shows up fairly well on the DSS.
******************************
10 27 51.1 -43 54 19; Vel
V = 11.5; Size 3.8'x2.1'; Surf Br = 13.6; PA = 100°
25" (4/1/19 - OzSky): at 244x; bright, very large, oval 4:3 NW-SE, ~1.6'x1.2', pretty sharply concentrated with a very bright relatively large core that appears off-center. The halo is irregular in brightness. The tidal plumes extending east from the north end and stretching west were not seen in dewy conditions.
13.1" (2/18/04 - Costa Rica): this disturbed galaxy
appeared as a moderately bright and large oval, extended 3:2 NW-SE with
dimensions 1.6'x1.2'. It contained
a fairly bright 1' round core embedded in a very faint halo. NGC 3256 is the furthest north and the
brightest in a group of Vela galaxies stretching south to
NGC 3256 is a member of the Hydra-Centaurus Supercluster and possible outlying member of the Antlia Cluster (9 degrees north). This cluster was first catalogued as Klemola 12. On photographs NGC 3256 is a chaotic system that appears to be undergoing a spectacular merger with long tidal tails. This starburst galaxy is a superluminous infrared source with X-ray emission.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3256 = h3254 on 15 Mar 1836 and
recorded "B, R, gradually much brighter middle, 25"." His position (measured on two sweeps)
matches
******************************
10 28 47.1 -35 39 29; Ant
V = 13.1; Size 1.0'x0.9'; Surf Br = 12.9
18" (3/17/07): faint, fairly small, round, 0.4'
diameter, weak concentration with no definite core. Faintest of trio with
John Herschel discovered NGC 3257 = h3255 on 2 May 1834 and
recorded "vF; vS; R; suddenly brighter middle; 10". The preceding of a group [with NGC 3258
and 3260]." His mean position
(3 observations) matches
******************************
NGC 3258 = ESO 375-037 = MCG -06-23-032 = LGG 196-008 = PGC 30859
10 28 53.6 -35 36 20; Ant
V = 11.5; Size 2.9'x2.5'; Surf Br = 13.6; PA = 75°
18" (3/17/07): fairly bright, moderately large, slightly elongated, ~1.7'x1.5', sharply concentrated with a very bright core which increases to the center, very faint outer halo. A mag 13 star is at the NW side of the halo (50" from center). Brightest in trio with NGC 3260 2.6' ENE and NGC 3257 3.4' SSW
17.5" (3/28/87): fairly faint, small, round, bright core. A pair of stars are near north. Forms a pair with NGC 3260 2.6' E in the Antlia Cluster (ACO S636).
John Herschel discovered NGC 3258 = h3256 on 2 May 1834 and recorded "vF; S; R; suddenly brighter middle; 12"." He observed this galaxy (along with NGC 3257 and 3258) on 4 nights.
******************************
10 32 34.8 +65 02 28; UMa
V = 12.1; Size 2.2'x1.2'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 20°
17.5" (4/6/91): fairly faint, oval elongated SSW-NNE,
broad moderate concentration.
Located 10' WNW of mag 8.4
William Herschel discovered NGC 3259 = H. II-870 = h715 on 3 Apr 1791 (sweep 1004) and logged "F, S, irregularly round, almost of equal light throughout." On 2 Apr 1832 (sweep 411), John Herschel noted "F; R; gradually brighter in the middle; 18"."
******************************
NGC 3260 = ESO 375-040 = MCG -06-23-033 = LGG 200-001 = PGC 30875
10 29 06.4 -35 35 43; Ant
V = 12.6; Size 1.2'x1.0'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 2°
18" (3/17/07): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 5:3 N-S, 0.5'x0.3', slightly brighter core. A mag 12.5 star is attached at the south end. In a small triio with NGC 3258 2.6' WSW and NGC 3257 5.4' SW.
17.5" (3/28/87): very faint, small, oval. A mag 12 star is attached at the south end 0.4' from center. Forms a pair with NGC 3258 2.6' W. Member of the Antlia Cluster (ACO S636).
John Herschel discovered NGC 3260 = h3257, along with NGC 3257 and 3258 on 2 May 1834 (sweep 447) and recorded "eF; vS; R; slbM; 6"." He recorded 4 observations.
Lewis Swift likely found this galaxy on 30 Dec 1897 and reported Sw. 11-108 as "eeeF; eeS; R; eF * in contact; [south-preceding] of 3267." Herbert Howe examined Swift's position in 1900 and found "[NGC] 3257, 3258 and 3260 are in the same field, and I measured them all on the same night, but could not see Swift 108, which is supposed to be close by. 3260 has a star of mag 11.5 about 20" south, and Swift 108 is said to have an "eF * in contact." Since the position and description of Swift 108 agree closely with those of 3260, I judge them to be identical." As a result Dreyer didn't assign Swift's 11-108 an IC designation. Harold Corwin comments on inconsistencies in Swift's earlier discovery lists. Swift wrote "p[receding] of 2" in his 6th discovery list from Lowe in MNRAS and "f[ollowing] of 2" in Popular Astronomy. Then he included it again in his 7th discovery in MNRAS as the "sp of 2"! Assuming he found NGC 3260, it closely follows NGC 3258, though technically "sp of 3267" is correct.
******************************
NGC 3261 = ESO 263-040 = MCG -07-22-015 = LGG 198-003 = PGC 30868
10 29 01.4 -44 39 25; Vel
V = 11.2; Size 3.7'x2.8'; Surf Br = 13.6; PA = 85°
13.1" (2/18/04 - Costa Rica): fairly faint, moderately large, elongated 2:1 ~WSW-ENE, 1.4'x0.7', weak concentration. Bracketed between two mag 12 stars at the SW and NE ends (separation 2.6'). Located 4' SE of a mag 10 star in a rich Vela starfield. NGC 3261 is in a subgroup of the Hydra-Centaurus Supercluster (brightest member NGC 3256) and is 9° south of the rich Antlia Cluster (but has the same redshift).
John Herschel discovered NGC 3261 = h3258 on 15 Mar 1836 and
recorded "F; S; R: 15"; entangled among 2 or 3 stars, but is
certainly a nebula." His
position matches
******************************
10 29 06.2 -44 09 35; Vel
V = 13.2; Size 1.1'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 108°
13.1" (2/18/04 - Costa Rica): faint, small, slightly
elongated WNW-ENE, 30"x25", low even surface brightness. Forms a pair with brighter
John Herschel discovered NGC 3262 = h3260 on 2 Feb 1835 (along with NGC 3263) and recorded "eF; S; R." His position is 2.4' too far south.
******************************
NGC 3263 = ESO 263-043 = AM 1027-435 = MCG -07-22-018 = LGG 204-002 = PGC 30887
10 29 13.4 -44 07 22; Vel
V = 11.9; Size 5.1'x1.4'; Surf Br = 13.9; PA = 103°
13.1" (2/18/04 - Costa Rica): fairly faint, moderately large, elongated 3:1 WNW-ESE, broad weak concentration. A faint star is at the WNW tip. Forms aa distorted, interacting pair (a faint plume extends E) with NGC 3262 2.6' SSW. Brightest member of the Klemola 12 group.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3263 = h3260 on 3 Feb 1835 (along with NGC 3262) and recorded "F; mE in pos = 280° +/- [WNW-ESE]; pretty suddenly brighter middle; 20"."
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10 32 19.7 +56 05 00; UMa
V = 12.0; Size 2.9'x1.2'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 177°
17.5" (4/9/94): faint, fairly small, elongated 3:2 N-S, 1.6'x1.0'. Appears as a diffuse glow with no concentration. Bracketed by a mag 13.5 star at the SW end 0.8' from the center and a mag 13 star just off the ENE side 1.0' from center. A brighter mag 11 star lies 3.8' N. Located 16' ENE of 36 Ursa Majoris (V = 4.8).
John Herschel discovered NGC 3264 = h716 on 9 Feb 1831
(sweep 323) and noted "eF; between 2 small stars." His position and description matches
******************************
10 31 06.8 +28 47 48; LMi
V = 13.3; Size 1.3'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 73°
17.5" (4/25/92): faint, small, round, weak even concentration, bright core. Forms a close "double" with a mag 14.5 star just off the ESE edge and 0.6' from center. Member of the NGC 3245 Group.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3265 = H. III-349 = h718 on 11 Apr 1785 (sweep 396). His description reads, "Suspected, 240x showed a few small stars with seeming nebulosity, and I rather suppose it to be a patch." His position was 8 seconds of time too small and 2' too far north. John Herschel made 4 observations and measured an accurate position.
******************************
NGC 3266 = UGC 5725 = MCG +11-13-030 = CGCG 313-022 = PGC 31198
10 33 17.6 +64 44 57; UMa
V = 12.4; Size 1.5'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 105°
17.5" (4/6/91): fairly faint, very small, slightly elongated small bright core, stellar nucleus. NGC 3259 lies 20' NNW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3266 = H. II-871 = h717 on 3
Apr 1791 (sweep 1004) and noted "F, vS, mbM." His position matches
******************************
10 29 48.5 -35 19 21; Ant
V = 12.5; Size 1.8'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 148°
17.5" (3/28/87): faint, small, slightly elongated
NW-SE, brighter core. Forms a pair
with
John Herschel discovered NGC 3267 = h3262 on 18 Apr 1835
(along with NGC 3268) and recorded "eF; vS; R. By a diagram made out of the meridian in which 4 nebulae are
delineated, two of them being those determined in sweep 446, Nos. 6 and
7." His position is 1.7'
south of
******************************
NGC 3268 = ESO 375-045 = MCG -06-23-041 = LGG 196-009 = PGC 30949
10 30 00.7 -35 19 32; Ant
V = 11.5; Size 3.5'x2.5'; Surf Br = 13.8; PA = 71°
17.5" (3/28/87): fairly faint, fairly small, round,
brighter core. Fourth of five in
the field within the Antlia Cluster (ACO S636) with NGC 3267 2' W,
John Herschel discovered NGC 3268 = h3263 on 18 Apr 1835 (along with NGC 3267) and noted "F; S; R. By a diagram made out of meridian..." His position is 2.7' south of ESO 375-045. The position was corrected by de Vaucouleurs in Mem. Commonwealth Obs., (Mt. Stromlo), No. 13, 1956.
******************************
NGC 3269 = ESO 375-044 = MCG -06-23-040 = LGG 202-002 = PGC 30945
10 29 56.9 -35 13 29; Ant
V = 12.2; Size 2.5'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 8°
17.5" (3/28/87): fairly faint, moderately large, slightly elongated N-S. Bracketed by a mag 13.5 star at the SE end 0.7' from center and a mag 14.5 star at the NW end 0.5' from center. Located 6' N of NGC 3268. A mag 10.5 star is 2.5' NNW. Third of five in the Antlia Cluster (ACO S636).
John Herschel discovered NGC 3269 = h3264 on 1 May 1834 and
reported "F; S; R: bM; 15"; one of a group of 3 or more. His position matches
******************************
10 31 30.0 +24 52 10; Leo
V = 13.1; Size 3.2'x0.8'; Surf Br = 14.0; PA = 10°
17.5" (4/13/91): faint, fairly small, elongated 5:2 N-S, bright core, faint stellar nucleus, extremely faint thin extensions with averted vision.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3270 = H. III-331 = h719 on 10 Apr 1785 (sweep 394) and recorded "vF; vS; very little brighter middle." On 19 Feb 1827 (sweep 58), John Herschel logged, "F; E; gradually brighter in the middle" and measured an accurate position.
******************************
NGC 3271 = IC 2585 = ESO 375-048 = MCG -06-23-044 = LGG 202-003 = PGC 30988
10 30 26.3 -35 21 35; Ant
V = 11.8; Size 3.1'x1.8'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 106°
17.5" (3/28/87): fairly faint, moderately large, oval NW-SE, small bright core. Appears similar to NGC 3268 5.7' WNW which is the brightest in the group. Fifth of five in the field in the Antlia Cluster (ACO S636).
John Herschel discovered NGC 3271 = h3265 on 1 May 1834 and
recorded "F; S; lE; bM; 15"; one of a group of 3 or more." His position is 23 sec of RA west of
DeLisle Stewart found this galaxy again on an Arequipa plate
and assumed it was new, so it also acquired the designation
******************************
10 31 48.1 +28 28 07; LMi
Size 4"
= **, Gottlieb. Misidentified in RNGC.
Herman Schultz discovered NGC 3272 = Nova VI on 9 Mar 1866
with the 9.6-inch refractor at Uppsala Observatory. His micrometric position is a perfect match with a close
double star (mag 12.7/13.7 at 4").
In the notes section of his monograph "Micrometrical Observations
of 500 Nebulae" Schultz describes "an insignificant object; preceding
[
A mag 11 star is exactly 135" north of the double star
and the offset with NGC 3277 also matches, so there is no doubt of this
identification. On the night this
double star was found, Schultz recorded the sky conditions as
"Aurora. Images dull." This probably contributed to the close
double star appearing nebulous, although a number of Schultz' objects are
single or double stars. RNGC
misidentifies
******************************
10 30 29.1 -35 36 39; Ant
V = 12.5; Size 1.7'x0.8'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 97°
18" (3/17/07): moderately bright, elongated 2:1 E-W, 1.1'x0.5', bright core. Located 15' S of NGC 3271 in the Antlia Cluster (ACO S636).
17.5" (3/28/87): fairly faint, fairly small, slightly elongated E-W, bright core. Member of the Antlia Cluster (NGC 3257-3281) with NGC 3271 15' N. Located 19' E of NGC 3258.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3273 = h3259 on 3 May 1834 and recorded "F; R; pretty suddenly little brighter middle; 12". The 4th and last of a group." He was uncertain of the minute of time, which should be 10 22 48.7 (for 1830).
******************************
10 32 17.1 +27 40 07; Leo
V = 12.8; Size 2.1'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 100°
17.5" (4/25/92): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 3:2 E-W, brighter core appears slightly offset. Forms the east vertex of an obtuse isosceles triangle with two mag 12 stars 2' NNW and 2' SW. A double star mag 11.5/13.5 at 13" lies 4' ESE.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3274 = H. II-358 = h720 on 11 Apr 1785 (sweep 396) and noted "F, pL". John Herschel made 4 observations and noted the double star HJ 484 to the southeast.
******************************
10 30 51.6 -36 44 14; Ant
V = 11.8; Size 2.8'x2.1'; Surf Br = 13.6
17.5" (3/28/87): moderately bright, oval ~E-W, bright core. Located 2.9' N of a mag 10 star within the Antlia Cluster (ACO S636).
John Herschel discovered NGC 3275 = h3266 on 1 Feb 1835 and
recorded "F; lE; pretty suddenly brighter middle; 20 arcsec." His position matches
******************************
10 31 09.1 -39 56 41; Ant
V = 13.4; Size 1.0'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.7; PA = 74°
18" (2/19/09): very faint, fairly small, elongated 5:2
WSW-ENE. A mag 9.3 star (
John Herschel discovered NGC 3276 = h3267 on 3 Mar 1835 and
noted "F; S; has a * 8m, np."
His position and description matches
******************************
NGC 3277 = UGC 5731 = MCG +05-25-022 = CGCG 154-026 = LGG 197-005 = PGC 31166
10 32 55.4 +28 30 42; LMi
V = 11.7; Size 1.9'x1.7'; Surf Br = 12.9
17.5" (4/9/94): moderately bright, fairly small, round, 1.2' diameter, even moderate concentration, bright core increases to a faint stellar nucleus. A mag 11 star is 5.1' WSW and a mag 10 star 6.9' SW. Member of the NGC 3245 group (LGG 197).
William Herschel discovered NGC 3277 = H. II-359 = h721 on 11 Apr 1785 (sweep 396) and recorded "pB, pS, almost R, bM." John Herschel made three observations and d'Arrest recorded 5 accurate positions and measured a mag 12 star that precedes by 23 seconds of RA and 1' south.
******************************
10 31 35.3 -39 57 20; Ant
V = 12.3; Size 1.3'x0.9'; Surf Br = 12.4; PA = 62°
18" (2/19/09): brighter of a pair with NGC 3276 located 5' W. At 175x it appeared fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1 SW-NE, 0.6'x0.3', contains a slightly brighter core. Located just SW of a wide, bright pair (h4326 = 9.8/10.6 at 39").
John Herschel discovered NGC 3278 = h3268 on 2 Mar 1835 and
recorded "F; S; R; sp a coarse double star." His position and description matches
******************************
10 34 42.8 +11 11 50; Leo
V = 13.4; Size 2.9'x0.3'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 152°
24" (4/15/23): fairly faint and relatively large edge-on, ~2.0' x 20" NNW-SSE. Broad, weak concentration but no core. Very nice. A mag 10.5 star is 3.6' N of center.
17.5" (4/13/91): faint, moderately large, edge-on 6:1
NW-SE, low even surface brightness.
David Todd discovered NGC 3279 = Todd 30 on 5 Mar 1878 using
the 26-inch Clark refractor at the USNO during his search for a trans-Neptunian
planet. There is nothing at his
postion, but roughly 2 minutes of RA east is
Lewis Swift found this galaxy again on 29 Jan 1890 and
reported it as new in list IX-23 (later
******************************
10 32 43.7 -12 38 15; Hya
V = 14.1; Size 0.7'x0.5'; Surf Br = 12.8
18" (3/29/03): this is a triple system listed as NGC
3280A/3280B/3280C in NED and NGC 3280/3280A/3280B in the second edition of the
Uranometria DSFG. At 262x there
was a confused glow, ~1' diameter.
Within the glow, two small knots (
Andrew Ainsley Common discovered NGC 3280 in 1880 with his 36-inch silvered glass reflector and described a "F double neb with 2 stellar centres". Common's position is poor, but the description clearly refers to the triple system MCG -02-27-006, -007 and -008. Common probably observed -006 and -008, the two brightest of the trio.
Six years later (26 Feb 1886), Francis Leavenworth made an
independent discovery with the 26" refractor at the Leander-McCormick
Observatory, though his rough position for LM 1-173 (later
Finally, Stephane Javelle found this trio again on 19 Apr
1892 with the 30-inch refractor at Nice, assumed J. 1-179 (later
******************************
10 31 52.4 -34 51 19; Ant
V = 11.7; Size 3.3'x1.7'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 140°
18" (4/25/09): moderately bright, fairly large, very elongated 5:2 or 3:1 NNW-SSE, 1.5'x0.6', bright core, fainter extensions.
16" LX200 (4/14/07): fairly bright, fairly large, elongated 5:2 NW-SE, large bright core gradually brightens to the center. A mag 13-14 star is off the NW extension and a mag 11.5-12 star is 2.8' S of center.
17.5" (3/28/87): moderately bright, moderately large, elongated NW-SE, weak concentration. Largest in the Antlia Cluster (ACO S636).
John Herschel discovered NGC 3281 = h3269 on 2 May 1834 and
recorded "eF; E; gradually little brighter middle; 60" l; 40"
br." His position and
description matches
******************************
10 32 21.9 -22 18 08; Hya
V = 13.0; Size 1.9'x0.6'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 82°
18" (3/13/04): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated
3:1 WSW-ENE, 1.2'x0.4', weak concnetration. A mag 13-14 star is at the tip of the eastern
extension. Located 9' SE mag 8.2
Lewis Swift discovered NGC 3282 = Sw. 3-56 on 5 Mar 1886 and recorded "eF; vS; middle one of 3 eF stars involved in neby. Two B stars point to it.". His position is 7 sec of RA west of ESO 568-016 and the description applies, thoiugh only 1 star is attached (1 other mentioned by Swift is the nucleus).
******************************
10 31 11.6 -46 15 05; Vel
V = 11.5; Size 2.6'x1.5'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 168°
18" (4/6/16 - Coonabarabran, 236x): fairly bright,
moderately large, elongated 3:2 N-S, 1.2'x0.8'. Contains a relatively large, bright core surrounded by a low
surface brightness halo, elongated N-S.
Located 6.9' SE of mag 8.8
John Herschel discovered NGC 3283 = h3271 on 3 Mar 1837 and recorded "pF, S, R, gradually brighter in the middle, 25". RA coarsely taken by an auxiliary star". The given position (updated to 2000 coordinates) is 10 32 47 (approximate), -46 15 14. JH also made a 10' error in declination (too far north) in the GC, which was copied into NGC.
ESO couldn't find a suitable candidate and RNGC classifies
the number as nonexistent. But
assuming the RA was rough, I looked at ESO galaxies and found a likely
candidate
******************************
10 36 21.3 +58 37 13; UMa
V = 13.6; Size 0.8'x0.5'; Surf Br = 12.5
See observing notes for
William Herschel discovered NGC 3284 = H. III-912 on 8 Apr
1793 (sweep 1038). He noted "extremely faint, very small, 300x confirmed
it and showed it very plainly."
His position is 2' SW of
Dreyer comments in his 1912 "Scientific Papers of
William Herschel" that "it precedes III-913 (
Karl Reinmuth equated NGC 3284 with a "*14 npp 1.5' of NGC 3288; no neb seen; nothing sp of NGC 3288." This conclusion was repeated by Dorothy Carlson in her NGC correction paper and it is repeated by the RNGC. It's more likely WH picked up one of the nearby galaxies.
******************************
10 33 35.8 -27 27 19; Hya
V = 12.0; Size 2.6'x1.5'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 108°
24" (3/28/17): moderately bright, moderately large, elongated 3:2 or 5:3 WNW-ESE, sharply concentrated with a bright elongated core and stellar nucleus, much fainter halo, ~1.6'x1.0'.
13.1" (2/23/85): fairly faint, fairly small, slightly
elongated WNW-ESE, small bright nucleus.
Located 7' SSW of mag 7.7
John Herschel discovered NGC 3285 = h3270 on 24 Mar 1835 NGC 3285 and noted "pB; E; gradually brighter in the middle." He measured the position four times (including the next two sweeps), so it was well determined.
******************************
NGC 3286 = NGC 3284 = MCG +10-15-112 = CGCG 290-056 = PGC 31433
10 36 21.3 +58 37 13; UMa
V = 13.6; Size 0.8'x0.5'; Surf Br = 12.5
17.5" (4/9/94): fairly faint, small, round, moderate even concentration with a bright core and nonstellar nucleus. Located 4.9' NW of a mag 10.5 star. Forms a pair with NGC 3288 3.9' SSE.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3286 = H. III-917 = h722 on
9 Apr 1793 (sweep 1039) and recorded "Two [along with III-918 = NGC 3288],
both vF, pS, R, little brighter in the middle." On 9 Feb 1831 (sweep 323), John Herschel noted "vF; pS;
R; pretty suddenly little brighter middle; 15" [diameter]." His
position is within 1' of
******************************
10 34 47.3 +21 38 54; Leo
V = 12.3; Size 2.1'x1.0'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 20°
48" (5/9/21): excellent, very elongated, dusty barred spiral in the field with the beautiful colored (gold/blue) double STF 1448 6.5' SW. At 375x, NGC 3287 appeared bright, fairly large, elongated 3:1 SSW-NNE, at least 1.5'x0.5'. A bright irregular bar runs along the major axis. Appeared mottled with a sharp light cut-off (due to dust) on the east side of the bar. A fairly large, slightly brighter patch was noticed on the NNE end of the galaxy.
13.1" (4/16/83): faint, diffuse, moderately large,
elongated N-S, even surface brightness.
A bright double star STF 1448 = 7.6/9.0 at 11" is 7' WSW.
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3287 on 1 Jan 1862 and made observations on 3 different nights. He noted the bright double star STF 1448 was 24 seconds of time preceding and 3 3/4' south. Édouard Stephan made observations on 4 Mar 1878 and 25 Mar 1879.
******************************
NGC 3288 = UGC 5752 = MCG +10-15-114 = CGCG 290-057 = PGC 31446
10 36 25.8 +58 33 23; UMa
V = 14.1; Size 1.1'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.8; PA = 5°
17.5" (4/9/94): very faint, small, round, low even surface brightness. Located 3.7' WSW of a mag 10.5 star. Forms a pair with NGC 3286 3.9' NNW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3288 = H. III-918 = h723 on
9 Apr 1793 (sweep 1039) and recorded "Two [along with III-917 = NGC 3286],
both vF, pS, R, little brighter in the middle." On 9 Feb 1831 (sweep 323), John Herschel noted "eF; S;
R; very gradually little brighter middle; 12"." His position is
within 1' of
******************************
10 34 07.4 -35 19 24; Ant
V = 12.5; Size 2.2'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 153°
18" (3/17/07): fairly faint, fairly small, very elongated 3:1 NNW-SSE, 0.9'x0.3', weak concentration. A mag 12 star is off the SW side, 50" from the center and two mag 14.5 stars flank the galaxy on the NNW end. Member of the Antlia Cluster (ACO S636) and situated at the eastern end of the cluster.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3289 = h3272 on 20 Apr 1835 and
noted "eF: R; 15"."
His position is 1.6' north of
Pietro Baracchi observed the galaxy on a couple of occasions in 1886 with the 48" Melbourne telescope and wrote, "It is pF, S, R, gradually brighter in the middle, a little mottled. Once star 16m precedes nebula by 5s and in the same declination. Also a star 13mag precedes nebula by 3s and is 40" south of it. Another minute star 16m follows neb by 2s and is 20" north of it - this star, the nebula and the star 13 mag are in a straight line, bearing about 40°."
******************************
10 35 17.4 -17 16 36; Hya
V = 13.5; Size 1.0'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 60°
18" (3/29/03): faint, moderately large, elongated 3:2
SW-NE, 0.9'x0.6', low surface brightness, very weak concentration. In field with mag 8.4
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3290 = LM 2-422 in 1886
and recorded "mag 15.7, 0.4' dia, lE 180°, gradually brighter in the
middle, * 7.5 n 6'." His
position is 0.5 min west of
******************************
10 36 06.4 +37 16 28; LMi
= * 3.5' SSW of
Guillaume Bigourdan discovered NGC 3291 = Big. 44 on 5 Apr 1885. His position is 5' southwest of NGC 3294, and falls between two mag 12.6 and 14.9 stars with a separation of 1.3'.
Harold Corwin identifies NGC 3291 with the mag 14.9 star 3.5' SSW of NGC 3294 based on Bigourdan's offsets. Dorothy Carlson also arrived the same conclusion in her 1940 paper on NGC corrections.
******************************
10 35 34.4 -06 10 46; Sex
V = 14.1; Size 1.1'x0.9'; Surf Br = 14.0; PA = 175°
18" (3/29/03): at 260x, very faint, very small,
slightly elongated N-S, 0.6'x0.4'.
Either has a faint stellar nucleus or there is a faint star
superimposed. Forms a close double
system with
Lewis Swift discovered NGC 3292 = Sw. 6-36 on 16 Apr 1887 and noted "vF; vS; lE." His RA was 28 seconds of RA too small. Herbert Howe provided an accurate position with the 20" refractor in Denver (repeated in the IC 2 Notes section).
******************************
10 35 49 -58 13 30; Car
V = 4.7; Size 10'
13.1" (2/18/04 - Costa Rica): stunningly rich and
bright open cluster, situated 2° northwest of the Eta Carina nebula. At 105x, 60-70 stars are packed into 7'
with many of the stars seemingly arranged in concentric circles! Appears compact and well-detached, even
in a rich Carina star field. A
striking linear trio of mag 6.5-7.5 stars (total length 1.5') runs SW-NE to the
center including an orange star (mag 7.2 supergiant V361 Car) on the SW end, a
blue star and a white star at the center (mag 6.5
12.2" (6/29/02 - Bargo, Australia): this very rich, young cluster is situated just NW of the Eta Carina complex and is one of the top open clusters in the southern sky. It is bright, compact and very rich with a half-dozen mag 6-8 stars over a rich background of dozens of mag 10-13 star in a 10' diameter. Appears somewhat similar to the Jewel Box including a mag 7 reddish supergiant, but with even a more compact appearance. The listed 40' diameter is much larger than the visual impression.
Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille discovered NGC 3293 = Lac II-8 = D 321 = h3276 in early 1752, using a 1/2-inch telescope at 8x during his expedition to the Cape of Good Hope. He described a "Small heap of 4 small stars forming a lozenge."
James Dunlop observed the cluster 4 times (first on 29 Apr 1826) and described "a very small cluster of very small bright stars; round figure, about 4' diameter; rich in extremely small stars resembling faint nebula". His published position was poor -- 17' WSW of the cluster.
John Herschel only has a rough position in the Cape catalogue using his small refractor (surprisingly he made no published observations with his 18-inch!) and he noted "a fine, bright, rich, not very L cluster. (Equatorial zone review)." A corrected RA was given in the IC 2 notes (Harv. Ann., xxvi, p207). Neither Lacaille nor Dunlop are listed as discoverers in the Cape catalogue, GC or NGC!
Henry Chamberlain Russell coined the nickname the "Gem" Cluster in an 1879 paper published in volume 13 of the Journal and proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales. Russell wrote, "..the beauty and symmetry of form in which the brightest stars are arranged - a double curve fairly representing the letter M, with a miniature Southern Cross in the centre and a bright red star at the foot - combine to make this a little "Gem," which, in the estimation of many observers, is quite equal to the well-known Kappa Crucis ("Jewel Box" cluster)." Russell compiled a catalogue of stars in "Gem" Cluster, as well as a map.
******************************
NGC 3294 = UGC 5753 = MCG +06-23-021 = CGCG 183-030 = Holm 202a = PGC 31428
10 36 16.1 +37 19 30; LMi
V = 11.8; Size 3.5'x1.8'; Surf Br = 13.7; PA = 122°
17.5" (4/13/91): fairly bright, fairly large, elongated
5:2 NW-SE, large brighter core but no nucleus. A mag 14 star is 2.5' W and a mag 11 star 4.8' SSW. Located 5.5' WSW of mag 9 SAO
62151.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3294 = H. I-164 = h724 on 17
Mar 1787 (sweep 713) and recorded "cB, E from 30° np to sf, 3 or 4' long
and 1 1/2' br, easily resolvable, almost uniformly bright." Caroline's reduced position is 20 sec
of RA east of
On 5 Mar 1851, LdR and Bindon Stoney recorded "an appendage at south side. LdR thought at times the nebula extended beyond this." The sketch shows a single spiral arm on the west side, curling clockwise to the south.
******************************
NGC 3295 = NGC 3280 = IC 617 = MCG -02-27-006
10 32 43.7 -12 38 15; Hya
V = 14.1; Size 0.7'x0.5'; Surf Br = 12.8
See observing notes for NGC 3280.
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3295 = LM 1-173 on 26 Feb 1886 and described a "D nebula or several stars involved in nebula". His rough position (nearest min of RA) is ~2 1/2 min of RA following NGC 3280 (discovered in 1880 by Andrew Ainslie Common and also a poor position!). Leavenworth's description clearly applies to this triple system. So, NGC 3295 = NGC 3280 and IC 617 is a third identity.
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10 32 45.4 -12 43 03; Hya
V = 13.9; Size 0.7'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.2
18" (3/29/03): faint, very small, round, 0.4' diameter, weak concentration to a starry center. Forms a trio with NGC 3280 5' N and NGC 3297 7' ENE. Located 4.7' ESE of a mag 9.5 star.
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3296 = LM 1-174, along
with I-173 = NGC 3295 and I-175 = NGC 3297, on 26 Feb 1886. All 3 were given same rough position to
the nearest min of RA. His
position for LM 1-174 is 2.7 min of RA following
Stephane Javelle found this galaxy again on 19 Apr 1892 and
naturally assumed J. 1-180 (later
******************************
10 33 11.8 -12 40 18; Hya
V = 14.5; Size 0.8'x0.5'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 160°
18" (3/29/03): very faint, very small, elongated 2:1 ~N-S, 20"x10", situated between two mag 13.5-14 stars SSW and NE (4.3' separation). In a group with NGC 3280 (triple system) 7' WNW and NGC 3296 7' WSW. This galaxy is listed as nonexistent in the RNGC.
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3297 = LM 1-175, along with NGC 3295 and NGC 3296. His single rough position (nearest min of RA) is 2.3 min of RA following PGC 31189. Herbert Howe measured an accurate position for NGC 3296 with the 20" refractor in Denver (repeated in the IC 2 Notes) and he added "I could only suspect NGC 3297." RNGC misclassifies NGC 3297 as nonexistent.
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10 37 12.3 +50 07 15; UMa
V = 14.0; Size 0.9'x0.6'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 138°
18" (3/11/07): faint, small, round (core only viewed), 0.4' diameter, contains a very small brighter nucleus. A very faint star lies 1' SW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3298 = H. III-767 = h725 on 12 Apr 1789 (sweep 919). He recorded "very faint, pretty small, irregularly elongated. May be a patch, or a few stars too small to be perceived." His position is 6' south of MCG +08-19-043 = PGC 31529. This was the first of 13 galaxies discovered in a northern sweep in Ursa Major.
On 7 Mar 1831 (sweep 329), John Herschel noted, "vF; two distant star nearly on parallel". His position was 1.3' too far SE. Because of the difference in positions, he questioned if h725 was identical to his father's III-767.
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10 36 23.8 +12 42 27; Leo
V = 12.8; Size 2.2'x1.7'; Surf Br = 14.1; PA = 3°
24" (4/20/14): faint, fairly large, very low surface
brightness, very weak concentration, elongated 4:3 N-S, ~1.6'x1.2'. No noticeable core or zones. First in the
17.5" (3/1/03): very faint, fairly large, unusually large low surface brightness galaxy with a very weak concentration making detection difficult. Appears at least 1.5' in diameter and roughly circular. Forms a pair with brighter NGC 3306 12' ESE. Required averted but once identified I could hold it most of the time with concentration and averted vision.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3299 = H. III-54 = h726 on
19 Mar 1784 (sweep 177) and logged "eF, cL, R, r, without
nucleus." There is nothing at
his position but 42 sec of RA east and 3' south (10' ESE) is
******************************
10 36 38.5 +14 10 15; Leo
V = 12.6; Size 1.9'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 173°
17.5" (4/18/87): moderately bright, bright core,
stellar nucleus, fairly small diffuse halo slightly elongated ~N-S. Surrounded by several brighter stars
including a mag 10 star 4.2' NNW, a mag 9.5 star 6.4' E and mag 8.1
William Herschel discovered NGC 3300 = H. III-55 = h727 = h3273 on 19 Mar 1784 (sweep 177). His description reads, "vS, r, lE and unequally bright. It is surrounded with brilliant stars at the same time in the field with it." John Herschel made observations both at Slough and the Cape of Good Hope and measured an accurate position.
******************************
NGC 3301 = NGC 3760 = UGC 5767 = MCG +04-25-035 = CGCG 124-045 = PGC 31497
10 36 56.0 +21 52 55; Leo
V = 11.4; Size 3.5'x1.0'; Surf Br = 12.7; PA = 52°
17.5" (3/12/94): fairly bright, moderately large, very elongated 4:1 SW-NE, 3.5'x0.7', good concentration with a small very bright core and bright stellar nucleus, halo is brighter on the ENE side. Off the north side is a thin isosceles triangle of mag 10-11 stars consisting of two mag 10 stars 2.9' N and 5.7' NNW, and a mag 11 star 4.2' N.
8" (4/24/82): fairly faint, very elongated.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3301 = H. II-46 = h728 on 12
Mar 1784 (sweep 166) and recorded "not very faint, small. North of it is a small triangle of pB
stars." Caroline's reduced
position is 8' north of
John Herschel made three observations under h728 (first on 24 Feb1827), though apparently was uncertain if this was the same as his father's H. II-46, so assigned two different GC designations. The NGC position is accurate and Dreyer comments in the Notes section that JH's and d'Arrest's positions agree.
Heinrich d'Arrest also found the galaxy on 21 Feb 1863, but made a 1 hour error in RA (uncovered by Harold Corwin). Once corrected, the position of NGC 3760 matches NGC 3301 (the same error was made with NGC 3575).
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10 35 47.4 -32 21 31; Ant
V = 12.5; Size 1.7'x1.2'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 118°
18" (3/13/04): faint, fairly small, elongated 4:3
NW-SE, 0.8'x0.6', weak concentration.
A mag 14 star is off the NW edge.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3302 = h3274 = h3275 on 28 Jan 1835 and reported it again on 16 Feb 1865. His first observation reads "vF; S; R; 15"." and the later observation "eF; S; R." The two positions are very similar (after a typo was corrected for h3274 in his errata list), so I'm surprised he didn't combine the entries in the GC. But Dreyer combined the two GC numbers into NGC 3302.
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10 37 00.0 +18 08 09; Leo
V = 13.5; Size 3.5'x2.4'; Surf Br = 15.6
48" (2/19/12):
17.5" (3/1/03): faint, moderately large, elongated 4:3 N-S, 1.0'x0.8', broad concentration to a slightly brighter core but no nucleus. Overall fairly low surface brightness.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3303 = H. III-66 = h730 on 21 Mar 1784 (sweep 181) and recorded "vF, S, E, r. 240 showed it no better than 157, though larger." John Herschel made two observations and measured an accurate position.
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NGC 3304 = UGC 5777 = MCG +06-23-026 = CGCG 183-032 = CGCG 184-001 = PGC 31572
10 37 37.9 +37 27 20; LMi
V = 13.4; Size 1.7'x0.6'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 158°
17.5" (4/9/94): faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1 NNW-SSE, sharply concentrated with small bright core surrounded by faint extensions. A mag 14 star is 2.1' E. NGC 3294 lies 18' SW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3304 = H. III-615 = h729 on 17 Mar 1787 (sweep 713) and noted "eF, vS, er." On 11 Mar 1831 (sweep 331), John Herschel noted, "vF; S; pretty suddenly brighter middle; 12"."
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10 36 11.8 -27 09 44; Hya
V = 12.8; Size 1.1'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.0
24" (3/28/17): fairly faint, fairly small, round, 0.6'
diameter, small brighter core, stellar nucleus. A mag 12/12.5 double star at ~7" separation is 1.6'
W. Located 17' N of
13.1" (2/23/85): faint, very small, round, no details. Located ~15' N of NGC 3308 in AGC 1060.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3305 = h3277 on 24 Mar 1835 and
logged "vF; S; R. The 2nd of
a group scattered over more than one field." HIs position matches
******************************
NGC 3306 = UGC 5774 = MCG +02-27-032 = CGCG 065-068 = KTG 30C = LGG 207-005 = PGC 31528
10 37 10.2 +12 39 09; Leo
V = 13.6; Size 1.3'x0.5'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 138°
24" (4/20/14): fairly faint to moderately bright, fairly small, elongated 2:1 NW-SE, 0.8'x0.4', relatively large brighter core. Brightest in a trio (KTG 30) with CGCG 065-069 7.2' SSE and NGC 3299 11.8' WNW.
17.5" (3/1/03): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 5:2 NW-SE, 0.8'x0.3, weak concentration to a slightly brighter core. A mag 11 star lies 1.9' NE. NGC 3299, a very low surface brightness galaxy, lies 12' WNW.
Lewis Swift discovered NGC 3306 = Sw. 3-57 on 27 Apr 1886 and recorded "F; S; R; sf of [NGC 3299]." His position is 1.5' too far south. Rudolph Spitaler measured an accurate micrometric position in 1891 at Vienna.
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10 36 17.2 -27 31 47; Hya
V = 14.5; Size 0.9'x0.3'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 28°
24" (3/28/17): at 260x; faint, small, slightly
elongated SW-NE, 24"x18", very low even surface brightness. Easily the faintest of the 6 NGCs in
the core of AGC 1060. Situated
4.2' W of
24" (2/22/14): at 260x, this member of AGC 1060 (Hydra I) appeared faint, small, elongated 2:1 SSW-NNE, 24"x12", low even surface brightness. Located in the core of the cluster, ~5' W of the NGC 3309/3311 pair and 9.5' NW of mag 6.6 HD 91964.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3307 = h3278 on 22 Mar 1836 and
"eeF. The 3rd of a group [with NGC 3285 and NGC 3270]." He only recorded this object once in 4
different sweeps of the cluster and his position falls in a blank region, 5'
south of
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NGC 3308 = ESO 501-034 = MCG -04-25-032 = LGG 206-004 = PGC 31438
10 36 22.3 -27 26 17; Hya
V = 11.9; Size 1.7'x1.3'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 32°
24" (3/28/17): fairly bright, fairly small, slightly elongated, well concentrated with a small, very bright core, ~1.0'x50". Slightly fainter than NGC 3309.
13.1" (2/18/04 - Costa Rica): moderately bright, fairly small, slightly elongated SSW-NNE, 1.0'x0.8', broad concentration to a brighter core. Furthest NW in the core of AGC 1060 and 11.5' WSW of the mag 5 star in the core.
13.1" (2/23/85): fairly faint, small, round, small weak concentration. First of five in a 20' field in the core of AGC 1060.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3308 = h3279 on 24 Mar 1835 and simply noted "F". Less than a week later he added "One of a group; 7 of which were seen and laid down in a careful diagram."
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NGC 3309 = ESO 501-036 = AM 1034-271 = MCG -04-25-034 = LGG 211-005 = PGC 31466
10 36 35.7 -27 31 06; Hya
V = 11.6; Size 1.9'x1.6'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 94°
24" (3/28/17): fairly bright, moderately bright,
slightly elongated, ~1.2'x1.0', contains a bright core that increases to a
stellar nucleus. Highest surface
brightness core of the main galaxies in the central region of the Hydra I
cluster and noticeably higher than
13.1" (2/18/04 - Costa Rica): fairly bright, moderately large, well-concentrated with a bright 40" core, halo increases with averted from 1.2'x1.0' to 1.5'x1.2' oriented SW-NE. Forms a pair with NGC 3311 1.7' ESE in the core of AGC 1060.
13.1" (2/23/85): moderately bright, small, round. A mag 13.5 star is at the east edge. Forms a close pair with NGC 3311 1.7' E. Second of five in the core of AGC 1060.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3309 = h3280 on 24 Mar 1835 and noted "B: L; double [with NGC 3311]." Less than a week later he added "A double nebula, or rather two distinct nebulae near together. By diagram, both pL, R, pos about 10° np or sf, and nearly equal."
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10 38 45.8 +53 30 10; UMa
V = 10.8; Size 3.1'x2.4'; Surf Br = 12.8
48" (5/16/12): extremely bright, fairly large, sharply concentrated with a large, very bright, slightly elongated N-S core, ~1' diameter. The core appears mottled with a couple of "stellarings" or small knots. The core is surrounded by a larger, much lower surface brightness irregular halo, extending the central portion to nearly 2'. An outer spiral arm is attached on the north side of the halo and was most evident near the halo. Occasionally, a very large, very low surface brightness looping arm was glimpsed, rotating 180° clockwise and ending west of the core, ~1.7' from center.
14.5" (4/12/21): bright, moderately large, roundish, sharply concentrated with a relatively large, very bright core that dominates the galaxy and a smaller, much fainter halo. The core has a slightly elongated uneven surface brightness. A nag 12 star is 3' N and mag 5.5 HD 92095 is 10' NNE.
17.5" (1/19/91): very bright, moderately large. Unusual appearance as contains a very bright, very large central core with uniform high surface brightness with only a very faint, fairly small halo, elongated NW-SE. Located 10.4' SSW of mag 5.5 HR 4165 at the edge of the 220x field. A mag 12 star lies 3.0' N.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3310 = H. IV-60 = h731 on 12 Apr 1789 (sweep 919). He recorded "very bright, round, planetary, but very ill-defined. About 1' dia of it is equally bright, and 1/4 of a minute hazy or ill-defined round the margin." On 10 Feb 1831 (sweep 324), John Herschel wrote, "B; R; very suddenly much brighter middle, so as to form almost a disc 15" diam. Surrounded by a very feeble atmosphere."
On 5 Mar 1848, Lord Rosse and William Rambaut observed NGC 3310 (the earliest observation in LdR's 1861 monograph) and reported, "See minute points in it at intervals, also spiral arrangement well seen." Six nights later they wrote, "Nebula well resolved into little stellar points. Saw a broad band across the bottom distinctly and two at the top." NGC 3310 was included in the list of nebulae having dark regions. Later observations mentioned the possibility of this object being a cluster. A detailed observation was made on 20 Feb 1868: "Three principal branches f, nf and np towards a * np [probably a HII region]. Dark cavity on nf side. Mr De la Rue, who was with me, saw it as a bay between 2 horns, and much neby surrounding it, with many stars exterior and involved.”
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NGC 3311 = ESO 501-038 = AM 1034-271 NED02 = MCG -04-25-036 = PGC 31478
10 36 42.9 -27 31 41; Hya
V = 11.6; Size 3.5'x2.9'; Surf Br = 14.1
24" (3/28/17): fairly bright, fairly large, roundish core but slightly elongated halo, the brighter central region is relatively large, the outer halo extends ~1.5' (second largest in the central region). Forms a striking pair with NGC 3309 1.7' WNW. A mag 13.4 is 1.2' WNW (at the edge of NGC 3309's halo).
13.1" (2/18/04 - Costa Rica): fairly bright, fairly
large, broad concentration, slightly elongated SSW-NNE. Outer halo increases to 2.0'x1.5' but
has a slightly lower surface brightness than NGC 3309 as the core is not as
concentrated.
13.1" (2/23/85): third of five in the core of AGC 1060
= Hydra I. Fairly faint, small,
even surface brightness. Appears
larger than NGC 3309 1.7' W but with a lower surface brightness. NGC 3312 lies 4.8' SE. Located 7.7' N of mag 6.8
John Herschel discovered NGC 3311 = h3281 on 30 Mar 1835 and noted as "The following neb of a double one [with NGC 3309]." He actually noted both objects in his observation on 24 March, but didn't list the objects separately for that sweep.
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NGC 3312 = IC 629 = ESO 501-043 = AM 1034-271 NED3 = MCG -04-25-039 = LGG 210-002 = PGC 31513
10 37 02.5 -27 33 54; Hya
V = 11.9; Size 3.3'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 175°
24" (3/28/17): moderately to fairly bright, fairly
large, elongated 5:2 N-S. Sharply
concentrated with a reasonably large oval core (N-S). The diffuse halo extends roughly 2.0'x0.8' (largest in the
cluster) with averted vision. A
faint star, perhaps 15th magnitude, is superimposed just southeast of the
core. The NGC 3309/3307 pair is 5'
to 6' NW and
18" (4/9/05): moderately bright, moderately large, elongated 2:1 NNW-SSE. Contains a fairly bright, roundish core ~20" diameter with fainter extensions 1.2'x0.6'. The core steadily increases to a stellar nucleus. A small isosceles triangle of stars is close SE.
13.1" (2/18/04) - Costa Rica: moderately bright, moderately large, very elongated 3:1 N-S, 1.5'x0.5', weak concentration. Possible a brighter knot is at the north end or a star may be near the edge of the halo. Three stars are close SE including two mag 11/12 stars 2' SE and 3' ESE of center. In the core of AGC 1060 with NGC 3311/3309 5' NW.
13.1" (2/23/85): fourth of five in the core of AGC 1060. Moderately bright, small, stellar nucleus, elongated 2:1 NNW-SSE. NGC 3311 lies 4.8' NW. Located 7.0' NE of mag 6.8 SAO 179027.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3312 = h3282 on 26 Mar 1835 and recorded "vF; pmE; the last of 4 in the field at once with two stars 6m near them, one above and one below them (which serves to identify the object beyond doubt)." His declination, only measured on one of two sweeps, was 3.4' too far south.
Guillaume Bigourdan found this galaxy on 26 Feb 1887,
assumed it was new, and recorded it as Big. 158. Apparently neither Bigourdan nor Dreyer questioned the
equivalence of
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10 37 25.5 -25 19 10; Hya
V = 11.4; Size 3.9'x3.2'; Surf Br = 14.0; PA = 55°
48" (5/9/21): at 488x; bright, large, roundish spiral. At first, I thought there was an intensely stellar nucleus, but realized a very bright star was superimposed on the N edge of a small, bright nucleus! A low contrast bar extends WNW through the center. The halo is large, between 2' and 3' diameter, with a low surface brightness. A mag 13.5 pair at ~8" separation is 3.5' WSW.
18" (4/10/04): fairly bright, large, round. Sharply concentrated with a small very bright core surrounded by a large, low surface brightness halo, ~1.5'-2' in diameter, which fades into the background.
Outlying member of the Hydra I cluster and member of the
group LGG 209, along with
Ormond Stone discovered NGC 3313 = LM 1-176 in 1886 with the
26" refractor at Leander McCormick Observatory. His rough position (nearest min of RA) is a good match with
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10 37 12.8 -27 41 01; Hya
V = 12.8; Size 1.5'x0.8'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 143°
48" (4/21/17): at 488x; fairly bright, moderately large, very elongated 4:1 NW-SE, 1.5'x0.4', brighter core. Roughly spindle shaped but tapers more on the northwest end. Irregular surface brightness (slightly brighter along the south side), but the foreground galaxy could not be distinguished. A mag 13.5 star is just north of the NW tip.
24" (3/28/17): moderately bright, moderately large, very elongated 3:1 or 4:1 NW-SE, 1.3'x0.35' spindle. Modest concentration with a slightly brighter bulging central region. A mag 13.5 star is situated at the northwest tip [36" from center].
13.1" (2/18/04 - Costa Rica): moderately bright, moderately large, spindle-shaped, very elongated 3:1 NW-SE, 1.5'x0.5'. A mag 13 star is at the NW tip. Located 7' ESE of a mag 6.7 star which detracts from viewing. Similar to NGC 3312 in the core of AGC 1060, but slightly smaller.
13.1" (2/23/85): fifth of five in the core of AGC 1060. Fairly faint, small, elongated ~NW-SE. Located 6.8' ESE of mag 6.8 SAO 179027. NGC 3312 lies 7.6' NNW.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3314 = h3283 on 24 Mar 1835 and
simply noted "the 8th of a group." His position is an exact match with
NGC 3314 consists of a face-on galaxy (
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10 37 19.2 -27 11 30; Hya
V = 13.4; Size 1.1'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.3
24" (3/28/17): fairly faint, fairly small, slightly elongated, 25" diameter, high surface brightness, gradually increases to the center. A mag 11 star is off the west side [42" from center]. Similar to NGC 3305. Located 13' N of mag 4.9 HD 92036.
18" (3/17/07): faint, small, elongated 3:2 WNW-ESE,
0.3'x0.2'. Located 40" SE of
a mag 11 star and 13' N of mag 4.9 HD 92036.
Edward Austin discovered NGC 3315 = HN 40, along with NGC
3097 and 3317, on 24 Mar 1870 with the 15" Merz refractor at the Harvard
College Observatory (Annals of Harvard Observatory, Vol 13, #207). There is nothing at his position. RNGC
(as well as Laubert's 1981 ESO list) identifies
However, 30' N of Austin's position is
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NGC 3316 = ESO 501-054 = AM 1035-271B = MCG -04-25-046 = LGG 211-006 = PGC 31571
10 37 37.3 -27 35 39; Hya
V = 12.6; Size 1.3'x1.1'; Surf Br = 12.8
24" (3/28/17): moderately bright, fairly small, round, 40" diameter, high surface brightness with a thin low surface brightness halo, contains a very small bright nucleus that increases to a stellar pip. Fifth and smallest of 5 brighter galaxies nearly on a line in the core of AGC 1060.
18" (4/9/05): faint, small, round, 30" diameter, increases to a small, brighter core. On a line with NGC 3312 8' WNW and a mag 11 star 4.8' WNW.
13.1" (2/18/04 - Costa Rica): fairly faint, fairly small, round, 40" diameter, weak even concentration, no well-defined core. A mag 11.5 star lies 3' SSE and two mag 13.5 stars are 1.2' S and 1.7' SE of center. Situated in the core of AGC 1060 and forms the eastern vertex of an equilateral triangle with much brighter NGC 3314 7.5' SW and NGC 3312 8' WNW.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3316 = h3284 on 26 Mar 1835 and noted "vF; R." In a later note he mentions "This numerous and very interesting group has been made out by a careful collation of diagrams made in sweep 564 and 689, for the purpose of identification, from which if appears that though in each diagram only 7 were seen and laid down, yet there are in reality at least 9 in the whole group." Harold Corwin notes there are only 7 galaxies he likely picked up, and the remaining two are unknown or may not exist.
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10 37 43 -27 31 12; Hya
24" (2/22/14): this ~9" pair of stars (in the AGC 1060 field) was difficult to resolve at 260x (partially due to the low elevation) and seems more like a small nebulous glow. It was resolved at 375x, though the (single) companion on the south side was quite faint (mag 15.5-15.8) and sometimes not distinctly seen as a star but as an indistinct glow. The northern component (very close pair) was not resolved.
Edward Austin discovered NGC 3317 = HN 41, along with NGC
3097 and 3315, on 24 Mar 1870 with the 15" f/18 Merz refractor at Harvard
College Observatory (Annals of Harvard Observatory, Vol 13, #210). The description reads "nebulous
star 5' N of [NGC 3316]".
Very close to Austin's position is a close double star, with the
northern component an overlapping pair on the DSS. RNGC classifies NGC 3317 as a double star (from Dorothy
Carlson's paper) and a triple star in ESO/Uppsala (2+1).
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10 37 15.5 -41 37 40; Vel
V = 11.6; Size 2.4'x1.3'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 78°
18" (2/19/09): faint, fairly small, irregularly round,
30" (probably the core only due to the low elevation), very weak
concentration. A very faint star or stellar nucleus was glimpsed. Located 18' S of mag 7.0
John Herschel discovered NGC 3318 = h3285 on 2 Mar 1835 and
noted "vF; pL; pmE; gradually very little brighter middle; 2'." His mean position (2 observations)
matches
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10 39 09.3 +41 41 14; UMa
V = 11.1; Size 6.2'x3.4'; Surf Br = 14.2; PA = 37°
48" (5/1/19): at 488x; very large barred spiral, extending 2:1 SW-NE and ~5.5' along the major axis! The galaxy is sharply concentrated with a very bright, very elongated high contrast bar, extending 1' SSW-NNE! A fairly easy section of a spiral arm parallels the bar on the south side of the galaxy. A couple of easy knots, ~6" and 10" in size, along with a faint star, are at the SW end of this arm [1.9' SSW of center]. The arm vaguely bends at a right angle to the NW and contains a bright, 12" knot [V = 16.6] . A low contrast arm is west of the bar, also running parallel (SSW-NNE). Another low surface brightness arm is NE of the bar. It curls sharply counterclockwise to the east and occasionally contained an extremely faint HII knot. An ill-defined, diffuse glow (part of this arm) extends further northeast to the outer edge of the halo. SQM 21.85.
17.5" (2/8/91): fairly faint, very elongated 5:2 SW-NE. The brightest portion is a large bar with a knotty extension attached at the SW end and extending on a right angle to the south. At this position on the POSS are several bright knots.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3319 = H. III-700 on 3 Feb 1788 (sweep 804) and recorded "cF, L, irr E, about 4' long and 2 1/2' br, much brighter south of the middle."
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10 39 36.6 +47 23 53; UMa
V = 12.3; Size 2.2'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 20°
17.5" (2/8/91): moderately bright, fairly small, oval 2:1 SSW-NNE, broad concentration. A mag 13.5 star is at the SSW end 40" from center and a mag 11 star is off the NNE end 2.1' from center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3320 = H. II-745 = h732 on 1
Apr 1788 (sweep 822) and recorded "cF, pS, E. Mixed with some stars visible, but probably not belonging to
it. A pL star north and a little following the nebula." His position is 5' north of
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10 38 50.6 -11 38 55; Hya
V = 13.0; Size 2.5'x1.2'; Surf Br = 14.0; PA = 36°
18" (3/29/03): faint, fairly small, diffuse, elongated nearly 3:2 SSW-NNE, 0.7'x0.5', low surface brightness halo, weak concentration. A mag 13.5 star is at the NW edge. Located 2.9' N of a mag 11 star on the Hydra-Sextans border.
Francis Leavenworth found NGC 3321 = LM 2-423 on 3 Jan 1887
and recorded "mag 15.7, 1.0' dia, vE 160°, * np end." His position is ~35 sec of RA preceding
This galaxy was originally discovered by Andrew Ainslie
Common in 1880 with his 36-inch silvered glass reflector, but his position for
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NGC 3322 = NGC 3321 = MCG -02-27-010 = UGCA 214 = PGC 31653
10 38 50.7 -11 38 55; Hya
See observing notes for NGC 3321, Howe and HC.
Andrew Ainslie Common discovered NGC 3322 in 1880 with his
36-inch silvered-glass reflector and recorded "F, irregular shape, f
star." There is nothing at
his position, but 16' S is
Francis Leavenworth independently discovered the galaxy on 3 Jan 1887 and reported it in the Leander McCormick observatory's second paper. Leavenworth's RA for NGC 3321 was 35 seconds too small. Howe was unsuccessful in searching for Common's object on two nights though he notes "Probably = NGC 3321 as their descriptions are fairly similar and their RA's agree fairly." So, NGC 3322 = NGC 3321, with discovery priority to Common. See Corwin's notes for more.
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10 39 39.0 +25 19 21; LMi
V = 13.3; Size 1.3'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 145°
17.5" (3/25/95): fairly faint, small, elongated 3:2 NW-SE, even surface brightness. Located just east of the midpoint of a mag 11 star 2.2' WNW and a close double star 2.3' SE (mag 13/14 at 10" in PA 40°).
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3323 = St. 9-22 on 9 Feb 1877. His published micrometric position (which he measured on 15 Mar) is accurate.
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NGC 3324 = ESO 128-006 = Gum 31 = Ced 108 = IC 2599 = Cr 225 = Gabriela Mistral Nebula
10 37 19 -58 39 36; Car
V = 6.7; Size 16'
24" (4/11/08 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): I only took a quick look at the "Gabriela Mistral" Nebula at 200x and a UHC filter, but the brightest portion appeared like a cartoon drawing of a whale with a huge, very bright bulbous "head" forming the northern end of the nebula. The brightest portion is perhaps 15'x6' in size, but quite an extensive amount of fainter nebulosity spreads out the east and southeast of the main body, significantly increasing the size to ~15'x11', elongated N-S. Some faint nebulosity also spreads to the west of the main portion. At the south end is the mag 5.5 star HD 92207.
13.1" (2/18/04 - Costa Rica): striking HII region and
cluster 30' SE of NGC 3293 and 90' NW of the center of the Eta Carina nebula!
(this is an outlying piece of the Eta Carina complex) At 105x and UHC filter this huge, elongated, irregular
nebula is quite bright, perhaps 15'x6' in size and tapers towards the south end
where mag 5.5
James Dunlop discovered NGC 3324 = D 322 = h3286 on 1 May 1826 and described a "star of the 7th magnitude, involved in faint nebula." His position was roughly 6' too far NW.
John Herschel credited Dunlop with the discovery and reported on 1 Apr 1834 (sweep 435), "A double star involved in nebula, which is one of the outliers of the great nebula about Eta Argus. It extends to a star 6.7 mag half a field distant southwards, and almost as far north; pretty bright; irregular figure; fine object."
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10 39 20.4 -00 12 01; Sex
V = 12.7; Size 1.3'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 55°
17.5" (3/22/96): fairly faint, small, slightly
elongated SW-NE, 0.8'x0.6', brighter core. A mag 13 star is 1.3' W of center. Located 11' WSW of mag 8.6
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3325 = St. 10-25 on 13 Mar 1874. He misidentified it as "Lassell 198" [= NGC 3339], but this a single faint star discovered by Marth. He made a second observation on 25 Mar 1879 and reduced an accurate position (list 10, #25) on 19 Mar 1880.
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10 39 31.9 +05 06 27; Sex
V = 13.7; Size 0.6'x0.5'; Surf Br = 12.4
17.5" (3/22/96): faint, small, round, 0.4' diameter, weak concentration. A mag 13 star is 2.4' W of center. Located 5.5' SSW of a mag 9.5 star.
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3326 = m 196 on 22 Mar 1865 with
Lassell's 48" on Malta and noted "vF, eS, stellar." His position matches
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10 39 58.1 +24 05 29; LMi
V = 13.4; Size 1.1'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 85°
17.5" (3/25/95): faint, small, round, 0.6' diameter, moderate even concentration to a very small bright core. A faint star is almost attached at the west side 25" from the center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3327 = H. II-348 = h734 on 10 Apr 1785 (sweep 394) and noted "F, S, lE." On 19 Feb 1827 (sweep 58), John Herschel noted, "vF: S; has either a star which gives it an apparent elongation in parallel, or is a double nebula." The star is at the west edge.
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10 39 54.2 +09 18 01; Leo
= *, Gottlieb. Not found, RNGC.
Christian Peters discovered NGC 3328 on 27 Mar 1880 while making observations for a star catalog with the 13.5" refractor at the Litchfield observatory in New York. At his position is a mag 14.8 star with a fainter companion 20" west and there are no nearby objects he might have picked up. Corwin equates NGC 3328 with this pair of stars. On 21 May 1879 Wilhelm Tempel found an object ~30 seconds of RA preceding NGC 3332. Near this location (mentioned in the narrative portion of paper V) is a pair of 15th magnitude stars. In 1892 Spitaler measured an accurate position for Tempel's pair (given in the IC 1 Notes), but it's unlikely this pair is the same as NGC 3328.
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10 44 39.4 +76 48 35; Dra
V = 12.2; Size 1.8'x1.0'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 140°
17.5" (3/28/92): moderately bright, small, elongated 3:2 NW-SE, broad concentration but no sharp nucleus. A mag 13 star is 1.4' NW.
John Herschel independently discovered NGC 3329 = h733 on 2 Sep 1828 (sweep 171). On 5 Apr 1832 (sweep 414) he recorded, "pretty bright; little extended; gradually brighter middle; 25" diameter." His position is accurate.
William Herschel discovered this galaxy on 2 Apr 1801 (sweep
1096 with large systematic errors).
His revised position, using Greenwich plates (MN, 71, 509), reveals H.
I. 284 = NGC 3397 is identical to NGC 3329. The modern designation is NGC 3329, despite the earlier
discovery of
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10 38 48 -54 06 54; Vel
V = 7.4; Size 7'
13.1" (2/18/04 - Costa Rica): at 105x, ~30 stars mag 10-13 in a 6'x3' group elongated N-S. Three brighter mag 10 stars are on the south side but the main group of stars is on the north side including another mag 10 star. This was an easy object in my 10x30 IS bincoculars and was partially resolved in the 9x50 finder.
10x30mm Canon IS (3/28/19 - Tasmania): fairly faint but easily seen, a couple of stars were resolved at the edges.
James Dunlop discovered NGC 3330 = D 355 = h3287 on 29 Apr 1826. His summary description (based on 4 observations) is "a triangular group of small stars resembling faint nebula, with several stars in it of some considerable magnitude." NGC 3330 was one of his first few discovered. John Herschel recorded on 6 Apr 1834 (sweep 438) as "The chief star (9th mag) of a poor cluster of 20 or 30 stars."
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NGC 3331 = ESO 501-072 = MCG -04-25-056 = PGC 31743
10 40 09.0 -23 49 13; Hya
V = 13.2; Size 1.2'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 10°
17.5" (4/21/01): faint, fairly small, elongated 4:3
~N-S, 0.8'x0.6', weak concentration, no distinct core. The NGC position is 24 tsec too far
west and this galaxy follows NGC 3335 situated 10' SW. Member of nearby group LGG 209 (6
galaxies).
Frank Muller discovered NGC 3331 = LM 2-424 in 1886 and
noted "mag 14.0, 0.8' dia, vlE 180°." His position is 0.4 min of RA west of
A "corrected" position by Ormond Stone (repeated in the IC I Notes section) is 1.1 min of RA too far west! Herbert Howe's measured an accurate position in 1899-00 (repeated in the IC 2 Notes section).
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NGC 3332 = NGC 3342 = UGC 5807 = MCG +02-27-038 = CGCG 065-080 = Todd 24 = PGC 31768
10 40 28.4 +09 10 57; Leo
V = 12.6; Size 1.4'x1.4'; Surf Br = 13.1
24" (4/15/23): at 229x and 327x; fairly faint, moderately large, round, at least 1.0' diameter, much brighter central region increases to a small bright core and sharp stellar nucleus. The halo has a low surface brightness. A 13th mag star is 1.2' SE of center and a mag 15.6 star is a similar distance to the W of center.
17.5" (3/22/96): fairly faint, fairly small, round, 0.8' diameter. Even concentration to a brighter core and a nearly stellar nucleus. A mag 12 star is 1.2' SE of center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3332 = H. I-272 on 4 Mar 1796 while observing the satellites of Uranus. This discovery was made after he abandoned his sweeps in 1794 (until Nov. 1797), although even by 1790 and married for two years they had become much less frequent. He used Uranus as the offset reference and recorded the nebula as "considerably bright, small, irregularly round, much brighter middle, bright nucleus." Since the discovery was not made during a sweep, it was not recorded in Caroline's revised sweep records, but it was included in his third catalogue. Similar discoveries occurred with NGC 3080 (III. 934) and NGC 3107 (II. 898).
In the NGC notes, Dreyer states the nebula observed by Schönfeld on 26 Apr 1862 and by Vogel in 1867 differ a good deal in place from H. I-272, while the vF neb found by Tempel in Arcetri on 21 May 1879 and by Peters (AN 3328) is nearly in Herschel's place. The NGC position (also measured by Engelhardt) is accurate.
This galaxy was probably first discovered by Herschel on 18
Jan 1784 (early sweep 83) and catalogued as H. III-5 (later
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10 39 49.8 -36 02 12; Ant
V = 13.2; Size 2.0'x0.4'; Surf Br = 12.7; PA = 160°
18" (3/17/07): faint, thin edge-on NNW-SSE,
0.6'x0.15'. A mag 15 star appears
to be superimposed at the SSE end.
Occasionally, there is a strong impresssion that a second very faint
star is superimposed, though the second point is probably a faint stellar
nucleus. Member of a group
(Klemola 16 = LGG 213) along with
John Herschel discovered NGC 3333 = h3288 on 2 Feb 1835 and
noted "eF; vS; mE; appended like a tail to a * 15m." His position and description match the
edge-on galaxy
Swift probably found this galaxy again on 30 Dec 1897 and reported Sw. 11-115 as "eeeF; eeS; R; eF * in contact; sf of 2." His position was only 1' SW of NGC 3333. Herbert Howe has a note in his reexamination of NGC/IC objects around 1900 that "Swift says in a letter that these [Sw. 11-115 and 116] are to be dropped. The former is evidently identical with the h nebula 3333. The '* 15 att' is of mag. 13, and directly south of the nebula." As a result, Dreyer didn't assign an IC designation. Finally, Swift called NGC 3333 the "sf of 2" in the large AN table and "f of 2" in his earlier lists, though its unclear what the other object he had in mind. See Corwin's comments on NGC 3260 for more on Swift's objects.
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10 41 31.2 +37 18 46; LMi
V = 12.8; Size 1.1'x1.0'; Surf Br = 12.8
17.5" (3/25/95): fairly faint, fairly small, round, 40" diameter, almost even surface brightness. A nice evenly matched mag 11.5 pair at 28" lies 3' ENE. Situated in an interesting field consisting of several fairly bright stars.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3334 = H. II-641 = h735 on 17 Mar 1787 (sweep 713) and noted "F, vS." His RA was 34 seconds too large. John Herschel's position on 7 Feb 132 (sweep 401) is fairly close.
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NGC 3335 = ESO 501-071 = MCG -04-25-055 = PGC 31706
10 39 34.1 -23 55 21; Hya
V = 13.0; Size 1.1'x0.9'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 130°
17.5" (4/21/01): fairly faint, round, 1.0' diameter, weak even concentration to a small, brighter core and a faint stellar nucleus. Forms a pair with slightly fainter and smaller NGC 3331 10' NE. Member of nearby group LGG 209.
Frank Muller discovered NGC 3335 = LM 2-425 in 1886 with the
26" refractor at the Leander McCormick Observatory. He noted "mag 13.5, 0.4' dia,
irregularly round, gradually brighter in the middle" and his position is 0.7
min east of
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10 40 17.0 -27 46 36; Hya
V = 12.3; Size 1.9'x1.5'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 123°
18" (3/13/04): faint, moderately large, slightly elongated NW-SE, 1.2'x1.0', very weak concentration but no core or nucleus. This member of AGC 1060 (Hydra I) is located ~45' ESE of the core of the cluster. Observation made through thin clouds.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3336 = h3289 on 24 Mar 1835 and noted "vF; pL; lE; gradually little brighter middle."
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10 41 47.6 +04 59 18; Sex
V = 14.5; Size 0.8'x0.4'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 45°
17.5" (3/22/96): very faint, small, round, 30"
diameter. Two mag 11.5 stars lie
1.8' and 3.1' SW. Located 11.4'
WSW of
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3337 = m 197 on 22 Mar 1865 and
noted "eF, vS, alm stellar."
His position matches
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10 42 07.5 +13 44 49; Leo
V = 11.1; Size 5.9'x3.6'; Surf Br = 14.2; PA = 100°
18" (4/14/12): at 280x appeared fairly bright, large,
elongated E-W, ~2.8'x1.6'. Broad
concentration to a round brighter core but no distinct nucleus. The halo fades out gradually (nearly
face-on spiral) and there is a hint of mottling, though no clear spiral
structure. Mag 8.9
17.5" (4/18/87): fairly bright, fairly large, broad
concentration to an elongated brighter core with a brighter nucleus embedded,
hints of internal structure. The
fainter outer halo is elongated 3:2 E-W in the direction of mag 8.7
William Herschel discovered NGC 3338 = H. II-77 = h737 on 19 Mar 1784 (sweep 177) and recorded "a considerable, pB, E, resolvable nebula, brightest about the middle." On 23 Mar 1830 (sweep 242), John Herschel logged, "F; E; pL; very gradually brighter middle; follows a * 7m 10s."
R.J. Mitchell, Lord Rosse's assistant on 22 Mar 1854, noted "B Nucl, R, about 2' dia, light irr, has a second minute Nucl preceding the L one? Spiral?" There is no second nucleus, but he was correct about the spiral structure.
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10 42 10.0 -00 22 08; Sex
= * 2.1' WNW of
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3339 = m 198, along with NGC 3340, on 30 Jan 1865 and noted "eF, stellar." A single mag 15.4 star is very near his position. This star was also measured at Birr Castle on 4 Mar 1877 and called "eF, S."
The data in the RNGC listed under NGC 3339 applies to NGC
3340, MCG misidentifies
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NGC 3340 = UGC 5827 = MCG +00-27-042 = CGCG 009-101 = Holm 210a = PGC 31892
10 42 18.0 -00 22 37; Sex
V = 13.0; Size 1.0'x0.9'; Surf Br = 12.7; PA = 145°
17.5" (4/29/00): faint, fairly small, round, 0.8' diameter, very weak even concentration to a slightly brighter core. The halo fades into the background. Located 12' SW of uneven double ∑1464 = 8.2/10.9 at 5". This galaxy is incorrectly identified as NGC 3339 in the RNGC.
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3340 = m 199 on 30 Jan 1865 and
noted "F, S, R." His
position matches
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NGC 3341 = UGC 5831 = MCG +01-27-031 = CGCG 037-124 = PGC 31915
10 42 31.5 +05 02 38; Sex
V = 14.0; Size 1.3'x0.4'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 24°
48" (5/9/21): NGC 3341 is an advanced triple merger
with a Seyfert 2 AGN in
17.5" (3/22/96): faint, small, elongated 3:2 SW-NE, 0.7'x0.4', smooth surface brightness. A mag 11.5 star is 1.0' NW and a mag 14 star is at the WSW edge 25" from center. Located 21' NW of mag 5.8 35 Sex. NGC 3337 lies 11.4' WSW.
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3341 = m 200 on 22 Mar 1865 and
noted "vF, vS." His
position corresponds with
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NGC 3342 = NGC 3332: = UGC 5807 = MCG +02-27-038 = CGCG 065-080
10 40 28.4 +09 10 57; Leo
V = 12.3; Size 1.4'x1.4'; Surf Br = 13.0
See observing notes for NGC 3332.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3342 = H. III-5 on 18 Jan 1784 (sweep 83). He logged the following long description: "The faintest and smallest nebula imaginable. I viewed it a long while and with a higher power than the sweeper. Having no person at the clock, I went in to write down the time and found it impossible to recover the nebula. It appeared like a vS nebulous star, and is probably of the cometic sort; there was another vS star south-following (I think, or rather, am pretty sure), and it preceded a pretty bright star. It should have been secured before I went into the light. Its place must be about 2 1/2 deg following rho Leonis and about 10 arcmin more north than that star.''
His position falls on a blank part of the sky, but Harold Corwin notes that Herschel's description matches NGC 3332 = H. I-272, discovered on 4 Mar 1796 while observing the satellites of Uranus (during a period where he was disengaged from sweeping). This implies his RA for III-5 was off by over 2 minutes of time (RA) and 15' in dec, not an unusual error for his early sweeps, though the description "faintest and smallest nebula imaginable" is at odds with "considerably bright" for H. I. 272.
This galaxy was independently found by David Todd (#24) on 26 Feb 1878 during his search for a trans-Neptunian planet. Because of Herschel's poor position, this galaxy was not recovered by Spitaler or Bigourdan and Reinmuth equated the number with a 15th mag star.
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10 46 10.4 +73 21 10; Dra
V = 13.4; Size 1.3'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.6; PA = 55°
18" (3/30/05): fairly faint, small, slightly elongated
SW-NE, 0.7'x0.5'. Fairly sharp
concentration with a very small 15" bright core which increases to a
stellar nucleus. Forms the vertex
of a right angle with a 23" pair of mag 10.5/11.5 stars situated 4.5' NE
and a mag 10.5 star 4' WNW. NGC
3348 lies 30' S and
William Herschel discovered NGC 3343 = H. III-317 = h736 on 3 Apr 1785 (sweep 390) and noted "vF, vS, requires attention to be seen." On 4 Nov 1831, John Herschel noted, "not vF; R; gradually brighter in the middle."
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10 43 31.0 +24 55 20; LMi
V = 9.9; Size 7.1'x6.5'; Surf Br = 13.9
17.5" (1/19/91): fairly bright, large, about 4'x3' extended ~E-W. Unusual appearance as two bright stars are involved on the east side. Sharply concentrated with a faint outer halo and a well-defined much brighter core. A mag 10.5 star is on the east side 52" from the center and a mag 10 star is at the east edge of the halo 1.6' from the center. Also a mag 13.5 star is superimposed about 30" SSE of the core.
8" (3/28/81): faint, large, low surface brightness. Two mag 10 stars are at the east edge.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3344 = H. I-81 = h739 on 6 Apr 1785 (sweep 393) and recorded "cB, cL, milky, very near and preceding 2 stars; a small part of the nebula is considerably brighter than the rest; the 2 stars and the brightest part of the nebula are all within 2' and nearly in one parallel. The greatest part of the milkiness is preceding the bright part, and the termination of it is imperceptible." He published a sketch in his 1811 paper (Fig. 2) as an illustration of "Nebulosities joined to Nebulae."
On 19 Feb 1827 (sweep 58), John Herschel logged, "pB; L; gradually brighter in the middle; has (?) a star excentric within it and a double star closely following it." Bindon Stoney, observing on 3 Mar 1851, called it a "spiral, vF, has a branch from p edge round to n and f."
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10 43 31.9 +11 59 07; Leo
= **, Carlson. =M95 = NGC 3351, WS.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3345 = h740 on 24 Mar 1830, while searching for his father's H. I-26 (see below). He simply noted "eF, hardly visible." At his position is a pair of mag 14 stars at 18" separation. Peters also reported the same position. Dorothy Carlson, in her 1940 paper on NGC corrections, identifies NGC 3345 as a double star. As John's description was so disparate from his father's, Dreyer added two question marks to the equivalence of h740 with H. I-26.
William Herschel found H. I-26 on 19 Mar 1784 and recorded
"cB, pL, not R, and much brighter about the middle than towards the
ends." There is nothing at
his position, but ~10' south is
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10 43 39.0 +14 52 19; Leo
V = 11.7; Size 2.9'x2.5'; Surf Br = 13.7
17.5" (3/12/94): fairly faint, fairly large, slightly elongated E-W, 3.0'x2.5', fairly low almost even surface brightness, just a weak broad concentration. A pair of mag 11-12 stars are 2.6' WSW and 3.5' due west.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3346 = H. V-7 = h3290 on 8
Apr 1784 (sweep 187) and noted "F, vL, almost R, resolvable." From the Cape of Good Hope, John
Herschel recorded "vF; L; R; very gradually very little brighter middle;
3' or 4' diam. A soft globe of
light, resolvable with the left eye." His position matches
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NGC 3347 = ESO 376-013 = MCG -06-24-007 = LGG 213-004 = PGC 31926
10 42 46.6 -36 21 12; Ant
V = 11.3; Size 3.6'x2.1'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 173°
17.5" (3/28/87): moderately bright and large, elongated ~N-S, bright nucleus. First of three with NGC 3354 3.4' E and NGC 3358 10' ESE. Member of the Klemola 16 group.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3347 = h3291, along with NGC 3354, on 1 May 1834 (sweep 446) and recorded, "pF; S; R; very suddenly much brighter middle to a * 12m." He observed this group on four nights.
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10 47 10.1 +72 50 22; UMa
V = 11.1; Size 2.0'x2.0'; Surf Br = 12.7
17.5" (3/28/92): moderately bright but small, 1' diameter, slightly elongated E-W. Unusual appearance because at first glance there appears to be a double nucleus. Instead a mag 13.5 star is superimposed at the east side of the halo. The core of the galaxy is close west and a small halo surrounds the star with averted vision. Using direct vision the star is slightly brighter than the core. A mag 11 star lies 1.7' WNW. Straddles the UMa/Dra border.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3348 = H. I-80 = h738 on 3 Apr 1785 (sweep 390). He recorded "considerably bright, small, irregularly elliptical." On 4 Nov 1831 (sweep 383), John Herschel noted, "B; R; pretty suddenly brighter middle; 40"; has a * 11m pos 22.8°, Delta RA = 20 seconds."
Sherburne Burnham measured the separation of the star and the nebula at 22" in 1910. Karl Reinmuth called this was a double galaxy (based on Heidelberg plates).
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10 43 50.6 +06 45 47; Leo
V = 14.4; Size 1.0'x0.7'
17.5" (4/9/94): very faint, very small, round, low
surface brightness. Located 5.3' W
of brighter
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3349 = m 201 on 22 Mar 1865 and
noted "eF, vS." His position
matches the triple system
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10 44 22.9 +30 43 29; LMi
V = 14.4; Size 0.5'x0.5'
18" (3/11/07): faint, very small, round, 20"
diameter, occasional very faint stellar nucleus. Located just north of a wide pair of mag 9.5 and 10 stars
(
John Herschel discovered NGC 3350 = h742 on 10 Apr 1831
(sweep 342) and recorded "eF; vS; very difficult, but a certain
observation; is n of 2 st 9 or 10m."
His position matches
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10 43 57.8 +11 42 14; Leo
V = 9.7; Size 7.4'x5.0'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 13°
48" (4/21/17): at 375x; extremely bright, very large, dominated by an intensely bright, round nucleus/core and a prominent central bar running nearly E-W. A strong, round ring is attached at the ends of the bar, forming a striking "Theta" shape. A well defined darker region is inside the ring to the north and south of the bar though the contrast is higher on the north side of the bar. Surrounding the ring is a very large, low surface brightness outer halo extending SSW-NNE, perhaps 5.5'-6' by 4'. With averted vision, low contrast spiral arm structure was noticed in the outer halo, particularly on the southwest side.
17.5" (2/28/87): very bright, very bright core. The outer halo is 4.5'x3.0' oriented SSW-NNE. A bar is highly suspected extending WNW-ESE of the central core with inner ring structure suspected extending from this bar. M96 (brightest in the group) lies 40' ENE.
13.1" (2/25/84): very bright, small bright nucleus.
8": bright, fairly large, round.
Pierre Méchain discovered M95 = H. I-26 = h743 on 20 Mar 1781.
William Herschel first observed M95 on 18 Dec 1783 (early sweep 73) and logged "a large extended, fine nebula. It seems to be Messier's 98th..but it appears that Mechain has not seen the whole of it, for its feeble branches extend about 1/4°, of which no notice is taken.." He observed M95 again on 11 Mar 1784 (sweep 164) and recorded a "fine, bright nebula, much brighter in the middle than at the extremes, of a pretty considerable extent, perhaps 3 or 4' or more. The middle seems to be of the magnitude of 3 or 4 stars joined together, but not exactly round; from the brightest part of it there is a sudden transition to the nebulous part, so that I should call it cometic." Just a week later (19 Mar 1784) Herschel observed it during a sweep and assumed it was new! He included it in his first catalogue as H. I-26: "cB, pL, not R, and much brighter about the middle than towards the ends." There is nothing at his position, but ~20' S and 1 minute of RA E is M95, which is mssing in the sweep. Dreyer concluded H. I-26 was likely a duplicate of M95 in his 1912 revision of Herschel's catalogoues.
R.J. Mitchell, Lord Rosse's assistant on 16 Feb 1858, noted "I sev times thought it had two spiral arms, p and f." Sir Robert Ball commented on 10 Feb 1867, "The central bright section seems rather more complex than usual. It may be divided into two ellipses, the inner one is uniform in light and brighter than the other one." This appears to describe the core and the surrounding inner ring.
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10 44 15.0 +22 22 16; Leo
V = 12.6; Size 1.6'x1.2'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 0°
17.5" (3/28/92): faint, very small, round, brighter
core. A mag 14 star is 1.8'
WNW.
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3352 = St. 10-26 on 8 Mar 1869. His unpublished position was off by 2' SE. He published an accurate micrometric position made on 19 Mar 1880.
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10 45 22.4 +55 57 37; UMa
V = 12.8; Size 1.3'x1.0'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 45°
24" (7/11/18): at 375x; moderately bright, fairly small, slightly elongated SW-NE, 0.6'x0.45', very small bright nucleus, occasionally a brighter spot was seen on the west side.
17.5" (3/12/94): fairly faint, fairly small, round, 1.0' diameter, increases to an irregular brighter core and occasional stellar nucleus. A mag 13 star is 1.6' S of center.
8": faint, small, round. A mag 13 star is 1' S.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3353 = H. III-842 = h741 on 18 Mar 1790 (sweep 949) and noted "vF, vS, R." His RA is 30 sec too large. On 9 Feb 1831 (sweep 323), John Herschel recorded, "pB; S; R; pretty gradually brighter middle; 15"; a small star 90" S."
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NGC 3354 = ESO 376-014 = MCG -06-24-008 = LGG 213-005 = PGC 31941
10 43 02.8 -36 21 46; Ant
V = 13.2; Size 0.8'x0.7'; Surf Br = 12.4
17.5" (3/28/87): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated ~N-S. Second of three with NGC 3347 3.5' W and NGC 3358 7' ESE. Member of the Klemola 16 group.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3354 = h3292 on 1 May 1834 and recorded (two sweeps later) "vF; S; little brighter middle; 8". The 2nd of 3 [with NGC 3347 and NGC 3358]." Pietro Baracchi wrote, "pB; S; R: very little brighter middle almost flat. A star 14m close north." (3 Feb 1886, Melbourne).
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10 43 30 -23 12; Hya
= Not found, RNGC. =MCG -04-25-058 = ESO 501-G79?, ESO.
Samuel Langley found NGC 3355 = HN 29 on 12 Apr 1866 using
the 15-inch Merz Refractor at Harvard Observatory (Annals of Harvard
Observatory, Vol 13, #215). He
simply noted "found in search for Biela's comet; place
approximate." There is
nothing near his position (the only NGC credited to Langley). NGC 3355 is not listed in any modern
catalogue except ESO, which lists
Harold Corwin suggests a more likely candidate is IC 625 = ESO 501-G80, a "normal'' early-type object with a surface brightness two magnitudes brighter than ESO 501-G79. Either of these identifications are pretty speculative as IC 625 is 45' S of Langley's position. So, I've listed this number as lost.
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NGC 3356 = UGC 5852 = MCG +01-28-004 = CGCG 038-005 = VV 529 = PGC 32021
10 44 12.3 +06 45 32; Leo
V = 13.3; Size 1.7'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 102°
17.5" (4/9/94): faint, fairly small, elongated 5:2
WNW-ESE. A mag 11 star is 2.9'
S. Forms a pair with NGC 3349 5.3'
W.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3356 = H. III-107 = h744 on 17 Apr 1784 (sweep 196) and recorded "A suspected, extremely faint, pretty large [nebula]. Too much daylight remaining to verify it; but I do not much doubt it." Apparently it wouldn't be fully dark for another half-hour and his position was poor. He looked for it again but was unsuccessful on 28 Dec 1785 (sweep 497): "I am pretty sure it does not exist as the morning is very favourable." Finally, on 12 Apr 1801 (sweep 1098) he confirmed it as "faint, round, small, bright middle." His original position was about 2 1/2 minutes of time too small.
On 27 Dec 1827 (sweep 117), John Herschel wrote, "eF; R; bM; 30"; a * 9m south dist 2' or 3'."
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10 44 20.7 +14 05 03; Leo
V = 12.8; Size 1.4'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 90°
17.5" (3/22/96): fairly faint, fairly small, round, 1.0' diameter, broad concentration to an ill-defined brighter 15" core. A mag 12 star is 2.3' W of center. A wide pair of evenly matched mag 9.5 stars lies 8.5' NE.
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3357 = m 202 = T. 5-5 on 5 Apr 1864 and noted "F, S, mbM." His position is 1' north of UGC 5206. Heinrich d'Arrest independently discovered this galaxy on 22 Feb 1865, noted the mag 13-14 star 10 seconds of time due west and measured a very accurate position. Wilhelm Tempel made another discovery on 18 Nov 1881 while looking for Denning's Comet and included it in his 5th discovery paper.
UGC incorrectly gives the RA as 9h instead of 10h, although
identifies this
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NGC 3358 = ESO 376-017 = MCG -06-24-009 = LGG 213-006 = PGC 31974
10 43 32.9 -36 24 37; Ant
V = 11.4; Size 3.3'x1.9'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 141°
17.5" (3/28/87): moderately bright, moderately large, prominent core, fainter elongated halo. Several stars are near. Third of three with NGC 3354 7' WNW and NGC 3350 10' WNW. Member of the Klemola 16 group.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3358 = h3293 on 2 Feb 1835 and recorded "F; vS; R: close to a vS star; the last of 3 [with NGC 3347 and 3354]."
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10 46 36.7 +63 13 28; UMa
V = 10.6; Size 7.2'x4.4'; Surf Br = 14.2; PA = 170°
48" (2/21/12): at 375x, this beautiful barred spiral contains a prominent central bar extending ~1.3' N-S, with a bright, elongated core. A spiral arm is attached at the south end of the bar. It quickly rotates and sweeps northeast (clockwise) for 1.5', dimming out 1' E of center. A longer, beautiful arm is attached on the north end of the bar and sweeps south along the west side of the galaxy. This arm is brightest where it attaches to the bar. The western arm passes well south of the central bar and includes a couple of HII knots towards the end. The brightest is a faint 10" knot, situated 1.4' SW of center. This HII region is catalogued as [H69] 42 in Hodge's 1969 paper "HII Regions in 20 Nearby Galaxies". Just south of this knot the arm fades out, but brightens slightly again at the tip (2' S of center), where there is a very faint, low surface brightness knot, ~12" diameter.
14.5" (4/12/21): at 158x and 226x; moderately bright, large, oval ~3:2 N-S, ~4.5'x3' with averted vision. Contains a large, brighter central region. Although there wasn't a well defined core, a brighter N-S bar was occasionally noticed. The halo has a moderately low, fairly even surface brightness, except at the periphery. No brighter stars are nearby.
17.5" (3/12/94): fairly bright, large, elongated 3:2 SSW-NNE. A brighter bar is visible through the center along the major axis! Has a large, diffuse halo about 5'x3' which fades into the background. The brighter core has an irregular surface brightness. Two mag 14 stars are 3.4' WNW and 2.8' ESE of center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3359 = H. V-52 = h745 on 28 Nov 1801 (sweep 1102 under the pole). He recorded "considerably bright, large, little extended in the meridian, very gradually brighter middle, about 5' long and 3' broad. The nebulosity seems to be of the milky kind [unresolvable], it loses itself imperceptibly all around. The whole breadth of the sweeps seems to be affected with vF nebulosity." His position was 3.5' too far north.
On 2 Apr 1832 (sweep 411), John Herschel logged, "pF; L; E in merid; gradually little brighter middle; 2.5' l, 2' br." On 21 Feb 1874, Birr Castle assistant Ralph Copeland made two sketches showing both a striking "S" shaped spiral and a "figure 8". No description accompanied the diagrams.
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10 44 16.1 -11 14 33; Sex
V = 13.7; Size 1.2'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.6; PA = 55°
17.5" (4/21/01): faint, small, elongated 4:3 WSW-ENE, 0.8'x0.6'. Low, nearly even surface brightness. Forms a pair with NGC 3360 3.8' NE.
Andrew Ainslie Common discovered NGC 3360 in 1880 with his
36-inch silvered-glass reflector.
His description reads "A F[aint] pair, f one brighter." There is nothing at his position, but
10' north is
Herbert Howe's published position in his series of MN articles matches MCG -02-28-003, although it is incorrect in the IC Notes.
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NGC 3361 = MCG -02-28-004 = PGC 32044
10 44 29.1 -11 12 27; Sex
V = 12.8; Size 2.0'x1.2'; Surf Br = 13.6; PA = 155°
17.5" (4/21/01): moderately bright, fairly small, elongated 3:2 NNW-SSE, 1.2'x0.8', broad concentration. A mag 15 star is close preceding. Forms a pair with NGC 3360 3.8' SW.
Andrew Ainslie Common discovered NGC 3361 in 1880 with his
36-inch silvered-glass reflector.
His description reads "A F[aint] pair, f one brighter." There is nothing at his position, but
10' north is
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NGC 3362 = UGC 5857 = MCG +01-28-005 = CGCG 038-007 = PGC 32078
10 44 51.8 +06 35 48; Leo
V = 12.8; Size 1.4'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 90°
17.5" (4/9/94): fairly faint, moderately large,
elongated 2:1 SW-NE, 2.0'x1.0', broad concentration. Located 3.8' WNW of mag 8.7
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3362 = m 203 on 22 Mar 1865 and
noted "vF, S, R." His
position is within 1' of
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NGC 3363 = UGC 5866 = MCG +04-26-002 = CGCG 125-003 = PGC 32089
10 45 09.5 +22 04 42; Leo
V = 13.3; Size 1.3'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 0°
17.5" (3/28/92): faint, small, elongated 3:2 NNW-SSE, 1.0'x0.7', even surface brightness. A mag 12 star is 1.5' E of center and 1.0' off the edge. NGC 3353 lies 21' NW.
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3363 = St. 12-40 on 4 Mar 1878. His published position (list 12, #40) was reduced on 22 Mar 1882 with description, "F, pS, irregularly round, little brighter middle, r."
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10 48 29.7 +72 25 30; UMa
V = 12.8; Size 1.5'x1.5'; Surf Br = 13.5
17.5" (3/28/92): faint, small, round, low even surface brightness. Collinear with a mag 13/13.5 double star at 29" separation located 4' N.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3364 = H. III-318 = h746 on 3 Apr 1785 (sweep 390) and noted "vF, pL, r." His position was ~2.5' east of UGC 5890. On 4 Nov 1831 (sweep 482), John Herschel wrote, "eF; L; R; very gradually brighter middle; 60"; a coarse double star sf [about 5'] points back directly to it."
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10 46 12.6 +01 48 48; Sex
V = 12.6; Size 4.5'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.8; PA = 159°
17.5" (4/22/95): very faint, fairly large, edge-on 6:1 NNW-SSE, 4.0'x0.6'. Appears as a low surface brightness streak, very weak concentration with a small slightly brighter core. Surprisingly faint for the listed magnitude.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3365 = h747 on 13 Apr 1828 (sweep 144) and recorded, "eF; L; 2' long, 20" broad; very gradually very little brighter middle; a ray nebula." His position was 1.4' too far south. The NGC has a typo in the RA hour (19).
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10 35 08.4 -43 41 30; Vel
V = 11.3; Size 2.2'x1.1'; Surf Br = 12.1; PA = 37°
18" (2/19/09): faint, fairly small, elongated 3:2
SW-NE, ~0.6'x0.4'. NGC 3366 is
located just 1.7' S of mag 6.1
John Herschel discovered NGC 3366 = h3294 on 15 Mar 1836 and
recorded ""F; E; gradually brighter in the middle; close to a *
6.7m. The minute of RA is
doubtful. The written record makes
it 47; but as this is impossible from the context, 37 is assumed." Corwin proproses that his assumed RA is
still 10 minutes too large. Once corrected it matches
DeLisle Stewart found this galaxy on an Arequipa plate
around 1899 and Dreyer catalogued it again as
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10 46 34.8 +13 45 02; Leo
V = 11.5; Size 2.5'x2.2'; Surf Br = 13.2
13.1" (2/25/84): fairly bright, fairly large, almost
even surface brightness, slightly elongated ~E-W.
8" (3/28/81): fairly bright, slightly elongated, slightly brighter core. Located about 25' SSE of 5th magnitude 52 Leonis.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3367 = H. II-78 = h748 on 19
Mar 1784 (sweep 177) and simply noted "pB". His position was off by 15' (too far northwest), but he
measured a more accurate position on a later sweep. On 4 Apr 1831 (sweep 338), John Herschel noted, "pB;
vL; irreg R; very gradually brighter middle; 2' diam" and measured an
accurate position in sweep 338.
The description under h748 on 23 Mar 1830 (sweep 242) also probably
refers to
On 23 Mar 1851, Bindon Stoney noted "probably spiral, dark spaces in it and * suspected in preceding edge."
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10 46 45.5 +11 49 18; Leo
V = 9.3; Size 7.6'x5.2'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 5°
17.5" (2/28/87): very bright, fairly large, elongated
NW-SE, 5'x3.5', small bright core, stellar nucleus. Brightest in the Leo group (M96 Group) with M95 40' WSW and
17.5" (5/23/98): observed SN 1998bu in M96, which was very close to maximum brightness of 12th magnitude. It was located 4" E and 55" N of center.
13.1" (2/25/84): very bright, small bright nucleus.
8" (3/28/81): bright, fairly large, slightly elongated.
Pierre Méchain discovered M96 = NGC 3368 = h749 on 20 Mar 1781. Four nights later it was confirmed by Messier. William Herschel observed M96 on 11 Mar 1784 (sweep 164) and recorded "A fine, bright nebula, much like the former [M95], but the brightest part in the middle is more joined to the nebulosity than in the former, and the bright part is rather longer, though not quite so vivid as in the former. It may still be called cometic, though it begins to depart a little from that kind."
George Johnstone Stoney, LdR's assistant, noted "Is, I think, certainly a spiral." (3 Mar 1850). A year later, Bindon Stoney added "vBM, perhaps shaped like an S reversed." A sketch clearly shows a spiral arm curving counterclockwise on the east side towards the south. It also shows a darker strip just west of the central region between the western arm. M96 was included in the list of "Spiral or curvilinear" nebulae in LdR's 1850 PT paper.
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10 46 44.6 -25 14 39; Hya
V = 13.6; Size 1.4'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.6; PA = 117°
18" (3/17/07): faint, fairly small, slightly elongated WNW-ESE, weak concentration, 0.5'x0.4'. Outlying member of the Hydra I (AGC 1060) cluster to the NE of the main group.
Ormond Stone discovered NGC 3369 = LM 1-177 in 1886 with the
26" refractor at Leander McCormick Observatory. His rough position
(nearest min of RA) matches
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10 47 04.0 +17 16 24; Leo
V = 11.6; Size 3.2'x1.8'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 148°
13.1" (1/18/85): moderately bright, fairly weak concentration, elongated 3:2 NNW-SSE. The nucleus is displaced to the west.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3370 = H. II-81 = h750 on 21 Mar 1784 (sweep 181) and noted "pB, pL, not R, r." John Herschel made two observations, recording on 25 Mar 1827 (sweep 63), "pB; R; bM; r."
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10 48 16.9 +12 37 45; Leo
See observing notes for NGC 3384.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3371 = h751 on 23 Mar 1830
(sweep 282) and recorded "F, R. The second of 3 [with h748 and h753 = NGC
3373] in a triangle." NGC
3367, situated ~7' WSW of Herschel's position, is the only galaxy in the
vicinty. Christian Peters claimed
that "[N3371] was distinctly seen by me 1880, Mar. 2; but [GC]2198, the
third of the 'triple nebula,' could not be found." Most likely he saw a faint star hear
Herschel's position. But if the
positions for all 3 objects are offset 73 seconds in RA east and 70' south,
they match up perfectly with NGC 3379, NGC 3384 and
NGC 3371 and 3373 were reported as not found by Pease on plates taken with the 60" reflector in 1917 and 1919.
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10 45 09 -59 52 00; Car
V = 4.8; Size 120'x120'
24" (4/11/08 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): this observation of the Homunculus was made at 350x in good seeing with the 24". Eta Carinae appeared an iridescent electric-orange color surrounded by the bipolar blowouts of the Homunculus. The brighter and larger lobe, which is expanding in our direction, extends to the southeast and was pretty circular (a bit flattened on the end), but punctured by a small, elongated hole that splits the lobe near Eta, creating a small 6" loop (connected on the SE end). The NW blowout is fainter and smaller with an unusual "fountain" or "fan" appearance (also referred to as the "paddle" in schematics of the Homunculus), tapering in and dimming to an extremely narrow bridge at Eta and then spreading out to the NW. The NW edge of this lobe is rounder, creating a "fan" appearance. The two lobes create empty notches near Eta and extending into the NE notch between the two lobes is a very thin, short spike (referred to as equatorial debris or "skirt) that was not difficult to view but the SW "spike" was only intermittently visible. Just west of Eta is the fairly prominent, dark "Keyhole Nebula".
18" (7/4/05 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): spectacular detail within the Homunculus nebula at 293x. The bright 6" lobe to the SE of Eta is split by a dark lane (forming the two "legs" of the Homunculus). This lane actually consists of two darker "holes" with the outer dark hole more prominent. In moments of good seeing the outer periphery of the lobe has a slightly tattered or scalloped structure and it is flattened on the SE end. Jutting out a few arcseconds to the NE is a small, thin spike that was visible continuously with averted vision. On the opposite SW side, only a small, brighter extension or oval nodule bulges out slightly from the SE lobe. The fainter NW lobe has a more translucent appearance with a pinched "key" or "bust" outline as the nebulosity is very weak or absent in the middle of the sides (this lobe forms the "head" of the Homunculus). At the center of this remarkable sight is the bright, quasi-stellar, reddish-orange Eta Carinae.
Bochum 10 is located 40' NW of Eta Carinae and just north of
the huge wedge of nebulosity that extends north of Eta. About two dozen stars,
including 7 of 9th magnitude, were resolved in the main group, which extends
~5'x2'. The cluster is fairly
scattered and distributed in the two subgroups oriented NW and SE, with the SE
group containing most of the stars.
Visually it was much smaller than the listed diameter of 20'. Situated just 5' NW of mag 5.4
This huge Wolf-Rayet bubble was surprisingly easy at 76x with an H-beta filter, although without prior knowledge I would have assumed it was an outer extension of the Eta Car nebula. A huge, 35' semicircular annulus of nebulosity was easily traced. The south side of the rim is bright, well defined and oriented roughly E-W as it passes north of Bochum 10. With careful viewing, very faint nebulosity continues to spread out from the east end. On the west side of this E-W strip, there is a short break and then it continues as a large, fairly prominent arc that curves northward. This arc is sharply defined on both the interior and exterior edge and widens and fades at the north end, although a small locally brighter patch is at the NW tip. The nebulosity curves back east on the north side but this section is quite faint and simply appears as low surface brightness haze. A relatively prominent 4'x3' oval patch of nebulosity is isolated on the SE side, just within the interior. Very faint haze also spreads out within the interior but the eastern half of the rim is completely missing. The OIII filter significantly dims the curving NW quadrant of the loop.
13.1" (2/20/04 - Costa Rica): I spent quite a bit of time on the Eta Carina complex, particularly examining the remarkable Homunculus Nebula. This is easily the largest bright emission nebula in the sky and a very prominent naked-eye object within the amazingly rich Carina Milky Way. Dark lanes or rift separate bright islands of billowing nebulosity and the entire complex overfilled the 105x field at the eyepiece.
The surface brightness of the various sections is fairly
uniform and pretty high, though it lowers in the outskirts. No section is comparable in intensity
to the central heart of the Orion Nebula, but the large wedge that contains Eta
Car is quite prominent. A UHC
filter enhances the nebulosity without significantly dimming the stars. Just west of Eta (within the central
wedge) is the fairly prominent, dark "Keyhole Nebula" that extends
~5' length, elongated N-S (not as contrasty as when John Herschel named it in
the 1830's). Eta Carina's orange
color and the small bipolar blowouts are quite stunning at high power. Several clusters are involved with the
nebula. The most prominent is
Tr 16 is the most massive cluster in the Carina nebula complex and contains the majority of the O-type stars. Visually, Tr 16 is a rich group of stars trailing immediately south of Eta Carinae itself and close southeast of the dark Keyhole Nebula, all within the same bright triangular wedge. At 166x, about three dozen stars mag 9-13 were resolved within 4'. A number of the stars are arranged in chains and groups. Eta Car itself is considered part of the cluster. Mag 8.8 WR 25 = HD 93162 is about 7' W of center of the cluster. The primary is considered the most luminous known star in our galaxy.
At 200x, the Homunculus Nebula surrounding Eta Carina was remarkable in excellent seeing on the last evening of observing. Both Eta and the nebula were a uniquely vivid color - an amazing fluorescent orange-tangerine. Extending to the SE of Eta is the brighter lobe, perhaps 6" in diameter with a sharp outline that was flattened along the southern edge in a mushroom shape. There appeared to be a partial darker lane in the interior. Extending to the NW was a smaller (4"-5") and much fainter lobe that faded with increased magnification. A tiny spike of nebulosity jutted out along to the NE between the two lobes. A couple of very close and faint companions lie just NE of Eta. This bi-polar reflection nebula resulted from the most recent outburst of supermassive Eta Car in 1841.
20" (7/8/02 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): Using a 20 Nagler (127x) and UHC filter, the field of Eta Carina was a breathtaking sight. The outer wings and streamers extended well outside the 39' field. The turbulent nebulosity had a curdled, electric appearance with a strong 3-dimensional effect as brighter streaks, wings, fainter masses and dark lanes were mixed together throughout the field.
The best overall view of the nebula in the 20" was at 80x (32 mm) using a UHC filter. Even at this low power, the Eta Carina nebula still overfilled the field with contrasty dark lanes and amazingly structured islands of nebulosity. I stared into the eyepiece quietly, somewhat stunned by its beauty. With this aperture at 282x, the 12"x8" bipolar Homunculus nebula was an astounding sight. The orange central star appeared quasi-stellar with the unequal blowouts fairly prominent. They had an eerie, translucent appearance with the western lobe somewhat smaller, fainter and more pinched with the eastern lobe more circular. A possible dark lane is near the center and punctures the lobes.
Tr 14 is a rich group of stars mag 7 and fainter stars in a
5' region, situated ~12' NW of Eta within one of the sections of nebulosity.
Contains the binary h4356 (7.2/8.9 at 2.8"). The brighter spectroscopic member of the mag 7.2 star (HD
93129Aa) is one of the most massive stars known and rivals Eta Car in mass and
luminosity. A triple system h4360
just 2' SE includes a 2" pair.
Bochum 10 is a group of two dozen stars in a ~5'x2' region. It includes 7 mag 9 stars that dominate the group. Fairly scattered and distributed in the two subgroups NW and SE with the SE group containing most of the stars. Located just 5' NW of mag 5.4 HD 92964 and just south of the southern arc of the HD 92809 Wolf-Rayet ring. Situated just north of the huge wedge that extends north of Eta, ~40' NW of the star. Visually the cluster appears much smaller than the listed diameter of 20'.
At 282x, the 12"x8" bipolar Homunculus nebula surrounding Eta Carina was an astounding sight. The orange central star appeared quasi-stellar with the unequal blowouts fairly prominent. They had an eerie, translucent appearance with the NW lobe somewhat smaller, fainter and more pinched with the SE lobe more circular. A possible dark lane is near the center and punctures the lobes.
12.2" (6/29/02 - Bargo, Australia): My first views of the Eta Carina nebula through Les Dalrymple's 12.5" and Gary's 20" were truly breathtaking and dwarfed the Orion Nebula in size and detail. The nebula is broken into 4 or 5 main separate masses of varying sizes, shapes and surface brightness by three wide, dark obscuring dust lanes. The mottled nebulosity has an amazing 3-dimensional curdled appearance and is riddled with dark bays and rifts. Outer loops and brighter streaks complete an amazing vista.
The brightest section forms a triangular wedge isolated by prominent dark lane that cuts at a striking right angle. This wedge contains the centerpiece Eta Carina which has an amazing orange color. Extending from Eta are the two small lobes (one is brighter), referred to as the "Homunculus nebula" and appearing as an explosive event from the early 19th century in a HST image. Just preceding Eta is an elongated N-S, curving dark lane nicknamed the "Keyhole Nebula" by John Herschel, as well as the open cluster Tr 16 just south of Eta.
Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille discovered (telescopically) NGC 3372 = Lac III-6 = D 309 = h3295 in 1751-1752 with a 1/2-inch telescope at 8x during his expedition to the Cape of Good Hope. He recorded a "Large group of a great number of small stars, little compressed, and filling out the space of a kind of a semi-circle of 15 to 20 minutes in diameter; with a slight nebulosity spreading in that space." Of course, the nebula and embedded clusters is a prominent naked-eye object, so was certainly known by southern sky watchers.
James Dunlop observed it at least 13 times beginning on 30 Mar 1826. His summary description reads "(Eta Roboris Caroli, Bode) is a bright star of the 3rd magnitude, surrounded by a multitude of small stars, and pretty strong nebulosity; very similar in its nature to that in Orion, but not so bright... I can count twelve or fourteen extremely minute stars surrounding Eta in the space of about 1'; several of them appear close to the disk: there is a pretty bright small star about the 10th magnitude N.f. the Eta, and distant about 1'. The nebulosity is pretty strongly marked; that on the south side is very unequal in brightness, and the different portions of the nebulosity are completely detached, as represented in the figure [plate III, figure 14]. There is much nebulosity in this place, and very much extensive nebulosity throughout the Robur Caroli, which is also very rich in small stars."
John Herschel commented "It is not easy for language to convey a full impression of the beauty and sublimity of the spectacle which this nebula offers, as it enters the field of the telescope fixed in R. A., by the diurnal motion, ushered in as it is by so glorious and innumerable a procession of stars, to which it forms a sort of climax, and in a part of the heavens otherwise full of interest."
During a 5-year period in the 1840's and '50s Eta Car brightened from 1.5 to -1 (chronicled by John Herschel) and was temporarily the second brightest star in the sky, nearly rivaling Sirius. This outburst later created the double-lobed Homunculus Nebula, discovered in 1944. In 1863, Francis Abbott, using a 4-inch refractor at his private observatory in Hobart, Tasmania, claimed a decrease in the size and brightness of the main nebula and a displacement relative to Eta Carinae. A number critical responses followed that strongly refuted any significant changes, including Lt. John Herschel (son of JH), and both Airy and Lassell in 1871. But Abbott persisted in his position, publishing 6 different papers in 1871. Interestingly, the dark "Keyhole Nebula" does appear to have lost contrast based on JH's sketches and descriptions. David Frew made a detailed analysis of the historical light curve of Eta Car at http://adsabs.harvard.edu/pdf/2004JAD....10....6F.
In Nov. 1874, Charles Burton (former assistant at Birr Castle) sketched the nebula with a 12" silver-on-glass reflector while at the island of Rodriquez on a transit of Venus expedition. He reported that he detected some changes (differences) with Herschel's sketch, though doubted if there was any significant changes.
As far as the origin of the nickname "Keyhole Nebula" it's generally assumed that JH coined the phrase and his sketch of the elongated dark patch near Eta certainly appears like a perfect classic "keyhole". But a search through his Cape Observations and articles about the brightening of Eta Car and the possible variability of the nebula reveals he used the term "lemniscate" to describe the shape (must have been his early mathematical training), and that's the term that Burton used in 1874..
In an 1873 issue of Appletons' Journal, Emma Converse, who reported on astronomical topics for the popular press, summarizes the dispute about changes in the nebula in an article titled "Eta Argus". She mentions "In the middle of the brightest part of the nebulous light there was a dark vacancy, of a form resembling a keyhole, or the geometrical figure called a lemniscate, around which the light of the nebula was not uniform." Later she mentions "The southern loop of Herschel's lemniscate, or keyhole-shaped cavity had bulged out into the vacuity, forming an isthmus that trended north-south." Agnes Mary Clerke refers to the "Key-Hole Nebula" in her "The System of the Stars" (second edition, 1905), plate XVII taken with the Bruce 24-inch at Arequipa in 1896.
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NGC 3373 = NGC 3389 = UGC 5914 = MCG +02-28-013 = CGCG 066-022 = PGC 32306
10 48 27.9 +12 31 59; Leo
See observing notes for NGC 3389.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3373 = h753 on 23 Mar 1830 (sweep 282) and recorded "F, R, the last of 3 [with h748 and h751 = NGC 3371] in a triangle." NGC 3367, situated ~7' WSW of Herschel's position, is the only galaxy in the vicinty. But if his 3 positions are offset 73 seconds in RA east and 70' south, they match up perfectly with NGC 3379, NGC 3384 and NGC 3389. Perhaps while observing NGC 3379, he used the position of NGC 3367 and measured offsets to obtain positions for the other two galaxies. So, h748 (sweep 282) = NGC 3379, NGC 3371 = NGC 3384 and NGC 3373 = NGC 3389. His position angles (given under h748) also match these 3 galaxies. See Harold Corwin's identification notes for more.
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10 48 01.1 +43 11 11; UMa
V = 13.7; Size 1.2'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.7; PA = 142°
18" (3/30/05): fairly faint, fairly small, irregularly
round though difficult to pin down an orientation, 0.7'x0.6'. Broad, weak concentration with no
noticeable core. Located 16' NE of
mag 7.3
William Herschel discovered NGC 3374 = H. III-701 = h752 on 3 Feb 1788 (sweep 804) and recorded "vF, vS, iF." On 12 Apr 1830 (sweep 248), John Herschel called this galaxy "vF; S; R; 12"."
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10 47 00.8 -09 56 29; Sex
V = 12.6; Size 1.5'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 153°
18" (3/29/03): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 4:3 NW-SE, 0.8'x0.6', bright 15" core, stellar nucleus. No brighter stars in the 20' field at 220x.
Édouard Stephan
discovered NGC 3375 = T. 1-26 = T. V-6 = St. 11-9 on 14 Mar 1874. His position was 1.5' NW of center. He didn't publish the discovery until
his 11th discovery list (#9) in 1881, based on a more precise position taken in
April. In the meantime, Wilhelm Tempel made an independent
discovery on 21 Feb 1878 and called it class II-III with a stellar nucleus. He reported the discovery in his first
discovery list (#26), as well as his 5th list (#6). Tempel was credited first in the NGC, although Stephan's
initial observation was earlier. MCG doesn't label
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10 47 26.5 +06 02 53; Sex
V = 13.8; Size 0.8'x0.4'; Surf Br = 12.4; PA = 167°
17.5" (3/22/96): faint, small, slightly elongated, 25" diameter, moderate surface brightness, faint stellar nucleus. A mag 14 star is 1.3' N which has a very faint companion close west.
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3376 on 19 Feb 1863. His position, measured on 2 nights, is
an exact match with
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NGC 3377 = UGC 5899 = MCG +02-28-009 = CGCG 066-016 = LGG 217-006 = PGC 32249
10 47 42.3 +13 59 08; Leo
V = 10.4; Size 5.2'x3.0'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 35°
13.1" (2/25/84): bright, elongated 2:1 SW-NE, well concentrated to a small bright nucleus. Member of the Leo I Group (also called the M96 Group).
8" (3/28/81): fairly bright, slightly elongated SW-NE.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3377 = H. II-99 = h754 on 8 Apr 1784 (sweep 187) and noted "pB, S, r." John Herschel made three observations and called it "first Class". Auwers and d'Arrest also measured precise positions.
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10 46 43.3 -40 00 59; Ant
V = 12.8; Size 1.5'x1.4'; Surf Br = 13.4
18" (3/28/09): faint, fairly small, round, 30" diameter, very weak concentration.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3378 = h3296 on 1 Feb 1835 and noted "pB; R; bM. Out of limit of sweep. Place rough. He measured a more accurate position on 3 later sweeps.
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NGC 3379 = M105 = UGC 5902 = MCG +02-28-011 = CGCG 066-018 = Holm 212a = KTG 33A = LGG 217-004 = PGC 32256
10 47 49.6 +12 34 54; Leo
V = 9.3; Size 5.4'x4.8'; Surf Br = 12.8
24" (4/20/14): very bright, large, slightly elongated ~SW-NE, ~3.0'x2.5'. Sharply concentrated with a large, brilliant core containing to an intense nucleus, which increases towards the center. First in a prominent trio with NGC 3384 7.3' NW and NGC 3389 9.8' ESE. M105 is a member of the M96 or Leo I Group (LGG 217), along with NGC 3384.
13.1" (2/25/84): bright, very small bright core, slightly elongated. First of three bright galaxies in the field with NGC 3384 7.3' NW and NGC 3389 9.7' ESE.
8" (3/28/81): fairly bright, round.
Pierre Méchain discovered M105 = H. I-17 = h757 on 24 Mar 1781, four days after he discovered M95 and M96. It was discovered after Messier's final catalogue was sent to publication (in the 1784 Connaissance des temps) but was included in a letter dated 6 May 1783 to Johann Bernoulli, the editor of the Berliner Astronomisches Jahrbuch and published in the 1786 Jarbuch volume. Méchain wrote, "Mr. Messier reports in the Connoissance des temps 1784, p. 264 & 265 two nebulous stars, which I have discovered in the Leo [M95 and M96]; I find nothing to change for my positions which I have established by comparing these nebulae to Regulus; but there is also a third one to the north; it is a bit more beautiful [brighter] than the 2 others; I have discovered it on March 24, 1781, 4 or 5 days after the other two. On April 10, I compared it to Gamma Leonis & I have concluded the right ascension 159d 3' 45"; the declination 13d 43' 58" north."
William Herschel independently discovered M105 on 11 Mar 1784 (sweep 164). He recorded "Three nebula in the field together [with NGC 3384 and 3389]. The two preceding ones [M105 and NGC 3384] cometic and much like the two former bright ones [M95 and M96], but considerably less." It was assumed to be new and catalogued as H. I-17. A second observation and sketch was made 8 nights later (sweep 177), with a total of 5 observations during his sweep campaign.
John Herschel's earliest observation was on 10 Apr 1825 (sweep 2). The NGC position is accurate (measured by Auwers and d'Arrest).
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10 48 12.2 +28 36 06; LMi
V = 12.5; Size 1.7'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.2
17.5" (4/22/95): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 3:2 ~N-S, 1.3'x0.8'. Gradually increases to a brighter core which rises suddenly to a quasi-stellar nucleus. A mag 14 star lies 2.1' ESE.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3380 = H. II-360 = h755 on 11 Apr 1785 (sweep 396) and noted "F, pL, irregular.". John Herschel made 5 observations – once calling NGC 3380 "faint" and twice calling it "bright". Four observations were made by Lord Rosse's assistants, though other than the elongation, no structural details were mentioned.
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10 48 24.8 +34 42 41; LMi
V = 11.7; Size 2.0'x1.9'; Surf Br = 13.0
17.5" (4/22/95): fairly faint, moderately large, round,
1.6' diameter, broad weak concentration, no distinct core. Located near midpoint of two mag 13
stars 5.5' NNW and 5.2' SSE. Forms a pair with
William Herschel discovered NGC 3381 = H. II-565 = h756 on
28 Mar 1786 (sweep 549) and logged "pB, cL, little brighter middle,
iF." Caroline's reduced
position is 10 seconds of RA west of
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10 48 24.9 +36 43 46; LMi
= **, Gottlieb. Not found, RNGC.
Lawrence Parsons, the 4th Earl of Rosse, discovered NGC 3382
on 5 Apr 1874 and described "About 4 min p [
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10 47 19.2 -24 26 18; Hya
V = 12.7; Size 1.4'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 24°
18" (3/17/07): fairly faint/moderately bright, fairly
small, slightly elongated, 1.0'x0.9', weak concentration. A mag 15-15.5 star is at the SW edge of
the halo. Located 7' NNE of mag 8
18" (3/13/04): faint, fairly small, slightly elongated 4:3 ~N-S, 1.0'x0.8'. Low, even surface brightness with just a weak concentration. Observation made through thin clouds.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3383 = h3297 on 20 Mar 1835 and
noted "F; pL; irreg R; gradually little brighter middle; 40";
moonlight." He also recorded
it on the next sweep and his mean position matches
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NGC 3384 = NGC 3371 = UGC 5911 = MCG +02-28-012 = CGCG 066-021 = Holm 212b = KTG 33B = LGG 217-005 = PGC 32292
10 48 16.9 +12 37 45; Leo
V = 9.9; Size 5.5'x2.5'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 53°
24" (4/20/14): very bright, large, elongated at least 2:1 SW-NE, ~3.2'x1.5' though the outer halo increases in size with averted vision. Sharply concentrated with a large, brilliant, rounder core that gradually increases to the center. Forms a prominent trio with M105 7.4' SW and NGC 3389 6.4' SSE. NGC 3384 is a member of the M96 or Leo I Group, along with M105.
13.1" (2/25/84): bright, bright stellar nucleus, elongated 5:2 SW-NE. Second of three with M105 7.3' SW and NGC 3389 6.4' SSE.
8" (3/28/81): fairly bright, round, moderately large.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3384 = H. I-18 = h758, along with NGC 3379 = M105 and NGC 3389, on 11 Mar 1784 (sweep 164). He recorded, "Three nebula in the field together. The two preceding ones [NGC 3379 and 3384] cometic and much like the two former bright ones [M95 and M96] but considerable less. The following [NGC 3389] resolvable and of a longish form, elongated. These three together form a beautiful sight." A second observation and sketch was made 8 nights later (sweep 177).
John Herschel made three observations, each time calling it "very bright".
******************************
10 48 11.6 +04 55 40; Sex
V = 12.8; Size 1.5'x0.9'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 97°
24" (3/22/14): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated
2:1 E-W, 30"x15", weak concentration, irregular surface
brightness. A mag 14.8 star is
just off the south side [20" from center].
17.5" (3/28/92): faint, fairly small, slightly elongated ~E-W, weak concentration, diffuse ill-defined halo. A mag 10.5 star lies 5' NE. Forms a pair with NGC 3386 4.3' N.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3385 = h760, along with NGC 3386, on 9 Apr 1828 and recorded "pB; R; bM; 15"." On 15 Mar 1830 (sweep 238), he called it "eF, E[longated.", so the conditions or transparency were likely worse.
******************************
NGC 3386 = MCG +01-28-010 = CGCG 038-016 = PGC 32284
10 48 11.9 +04 59 55; Sex
V = 13.8; Size 0.5'x0.5'; Surf Br = 12.1
24" (3/22/14): fairly faint, small, irregularly round, 20"x16", weak concentration. NGC 3385 lies 4.3' S. A mag 11 star lies 3.0' SE.
17.5" (3/28/92): very faint, very small, round, weak concentration. Forms a pair with NGC 3385 4.3' S.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3386 = h759, along with NGC
3385 = h760, on 9 Apr 1828 and noted, "vF; R." His position matches
******************************
10 48 16.5 +04 58 03; Sex
V = 14.2/15.7; Size 7"
24" (3/22/14): at 375x a faint unequal double star at 7" separation was resolved. The brighter component on the SW side is mag 14.2 and the fainter component is mag ~15.5. Although sometimes the pair was cleanly resolved into two sharp points, when the seeing was softer the fainter component appeared as a vague, dim spot so I can see how John Herschel might have called this pair a "suspected nebula". Located 2.1' SE of NGC 3386 and 2.7' NNE of NGC 3385.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3387 = h762 on on 15 Mar 1830 and noted a "suspected nebula. Has a bright star near." Just 30" northwest of his position is a 7" pair of mag ~14/15.5 stars and a mag 11 star (probably Herschel's "B* near") is 1.3' ENE. There is a very faint galaxy less than 1' SW of pair, but it's almost certainly too faint to have been picked up by Herschel.
Harold Corwin notes that the NGC position is from Heinrich d'Arrest (single observation), who placed the nebula just off the southeast side of NGC 3386. He noted the observation was uncertain and there is nothing there.
The RNGC misidentified a mag 17.5 galaxy on the northwest edge of the halo of NGC 3386 as NGC 3387. MCG and CGCG also misclassify NGC 3386/3387 as double nebula. Corwin originally classified this 7" pair as a "star (SE) + compact galaxy (NW)?", but Brian Skiff confirms the northwest component is a star. The brighter star is itself a 4" double with the fainter component 18th mag.
******************************
10 51 25.5 +08 34 01; Leo
See observing notes for
Andrew Ainslie Common discovered NGC 3388 in 1880 with his 36-inch reflector. He mentions his RA was roughly taken (estimate to the nearest minute of RA), and there is nothing near his position. Harold Corwin suggests NGC 3388 may be a duplicate observation of NGC 3425 = III 108, discovered by WH on 17 Apr 1784. This galaxy has a similar declination but located 3 min of RA east.
******************************
NGC 3389 = NGC 3373 = UGC 5914 = MCG +02-28-013 = CGCG 066-022 = Holm 212c = KTG 33C = PGC 32306
10 48 27.9 +12 31 59; Leo
V = 11.9; Size 2.8'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 112°
24" (4/20/14): moderately or fairly bright, moderately large, elongated 5:2 WNW-ESE, 1.6'x0.7', brighter core. The surface brightness is irregular with a very mottled appearance. A knot is embedded on the SW side. A mag 15.8 star is 50" south of center (outside the halo). Faintest in a striking trio with M105 and NGC 3384. The two apparent companions are member of the M96 or Leo I Group, but NGC 3389 lies in the background Leo II Group at 70 million l.y.
13.1" (2/25/84): fairly faint, very elongated 3:1 WNW-ESE, diffuse. Third and faintest of three with bright galaxies NGC 3384 6.4' NNW and M105 9.7' WNW.
8" (3/28/81): faint, small.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3389 = H. II-41 = h761, along with NGC 3379 = M105 and NGC 3384, on 11 Mar 1784 (sweep 164). He recorded "Three nebula in the field together. The two preceding ones [NGC 3379 and 3384] cometic and much like the two former bright ones [M95 and M96] but considerable less. The following [NGC 3389] r[esolvable] and of a longish form, elongated. These three together form a beautiful sight." A second observation and sketch was made 8 nights later (sweep 177).
John Herschel made four observations, describing it as "faint", "very faint" and "barely visible" on different sweeps.
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10 48 04.4 -31 32 00; Hya
V = 11.9; Size 3.5'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.5; PA = 177°
18" (4/9/05): fairly faint, moderately large, edge-on,
at least 7:2 N-S, ~2'x0.5', broad weak concentration. A faint star is at the north tip and a similar star is just
beyond the southern extension.
Located 9.4' NNW of mag 5.9 SAO
John Herschel discovered NGC 3390 = h3298 on 29 Apr 1834 and
recorded "pF; S; pmE in merdian [N-S]. His description matches the edge-on galaxy
******************************
10 48 56.4 +14 13 11; Leo
V = 12.9; Size 1.0'x0.7'; Surf Br = 12.3; PA = 35°
17.5" (4/22/95): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated
3:2 SW-NE although appears irregular, broad weak concentration. A mag 14.5 star is at the NE tip (about
15" from center) and an extremely faint mag 15.6 star is attached at the
west end. Lies 2.7' NW of a mag 10
star. Member of a triplet (USGC
U327) with
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3391 = m 204 on 1 Apr 1864 and
noted "triple star in nebulosity." His position matches
Heinrich d'Arrest independently found the galaxy on 1 Apr 1864 with the 11-inch at Copenhagen and noted it was between two stars. His two positions are very accurate. The RNGC questions if a star or knot is involved, but the two superimposed objects are single stars.
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10 51 03.0 +65 46 53; UMa
V = 13.7; Size 0.8'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 105°
17.5" (4/6/91): faint, very small, round, bright
core. Forms a pair with
William Herschel discovered NGC 3392 = H. III-88I = h763 on
3 Apr 1791 (sweep 1004) and noted "vF, S". His offset from II-872 = NGC 3394, the previous object in
the sweep is accurate. John
Herschel measured an accurate position for h763 on 3 Apr 1832 (sweep 412) and
called it "eF; S; pretty suddenly brighter middle; near some stars." But he placed h764 = NGC 3394 24
seconds of RA east, instead of 24 seconds west.
******************************
10 48 23.5 -25 09 43; Hya
V = 12.2; Size 2.2'x2.0'; Surf Br = 13.6
18" (3/13/04): faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1 NNW-SSE, 0.8'x0.4'. Contains a small, round, bright nucleus. The galaxy precedes two mag 9 (HD 93674) and 11 stars 2.9' E and 1.6' E (nearly equally spaced with galaxy). This observation (made through thin clouds) refers to the brighter core region and I probably missed the large, low surface brightness halo. Outlying member of AGC 1060 (Hydra I), located 3.5 degrees northeast of the core.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3393 = h3299 on 24 Mar 1835 and
recorded "F; S; R; precedes
two bright stars." His
position (3 sweeps) matches
******************************
NGC 3394 = UGC 5937 = MCG +11-13-041 = CGCG 313-036 = PGC 32495
10 50 39.9 +65 43 38; UMa
V = 12.4; Size 1.9'x1.4'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 35°
17.5" (4/6/91): fairly faint, moderately large, diffuse, slightly elongated, low surface brightness. Forms a pair with NGC 3392 4' NE.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3394 = H. II-872 = h764 on 3 Apr 1791 (sweep 1004), along with III-881 = NGC 3392. He recorded "F, cL, iR" and his relative offsets (21 sec in RA and 2' in dec) matches the pair.
John Herschel placed h764 = NGC 3394 24 seconds of RA east of h763 = NGC 3392, instead of 24 seconds of RA west. This caused the NGC RA to be 44 seconds east of the true position of NGC 3394.
******************************
10 49 50.1 +32 58 58; LMi
V = 12.1; Size 2.1'x1.2'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 50°
48" (5/4/16): this very bright, two-armed disrupted
spiral forms an interacting, contact pair (
17.5" (3/12/94): fairly bright, elongated 2:1 SSW-NNE, 1.5'x0.8', fairly high surface brightness, broadly concentrated halo, core appears rounder, no nucleus, mottled texture. This galaxy is slightly larger and brighter of a striking interacting pair, almost in contact with NGC 3396 at the NNE end 1.6' from center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3395 = H. I-116 = h765, along with NGC 3396, on 7 Dec 1785 (sweep 487). He recorded, "Two, the 1st [NGC 3395] cB, the 2nd [NGC 3396] pB. The 1st considerably large, the 2nd pretty large. Both a little and irregularly elongated. Their extent makes an angle, the vertex of which is towards the north about 1' from each other at the vertex."
R.J. Mitchell, Lord Rosse's assistant, sketched the pair on 9 Feb 1855 (plate XXVII, figure 15, 1861 publication). His description reads "[NGC 3395] is, I think, a spiral with a left-handed twist; immediately foll it is [NGC 3396], which is B and well defined, E pf. I suspect F neby extending from 3395 and running up throiugh 3396." The sketch showes a spiral arm wrapping 270° counterclockwise from the north, east and south side, ending west of the core.
Stephane Javelle found the galaxy on 13 May 1896 but made a
sign error in the RA offset from his comparison star. So, Dreyer assumed it was new and NGC 3395 was catalogued
again as
******************************
NGC 3396 = Arp 270 NED2 = VV 246a = Holm 215b = UGC 5935 =
10 49 55.2 +32 59 27; LMi
V = 12.1; Size 3.1'x1.2'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 100°
48" (5/4/16): NGC 3396 is the eastern member of a striking interacting double system (Arp 270 = VV 246) with NGC 3395 1.2' SW. At 375x, it appeared bright, very elongated ~3:1 E-W, ~1.5'x0.5', contains a very bright small core and quasi-stellar nucleus that's offset to the west side of the galaxy. A much lower surface brightness glow extends east from the main body and appears slightly offset or bent in orientation to the main part of the galaxy. The galaxy is virtually merged with NGC 3395 on the west end.
17.5" (3/12/94): moderately bright, very elongated 3:1 WNW-ESE, 1.0'x0.3', brighter along the major axis, sharply concentrated with a high surface brightness core. Forms a prominent double system with NGC 3395 almost attached just south of the west end!
William Herschel discovered NGC 3396 = H. I-117 = h766, along with NGC 3395, on 7 Dec 1785 (sweep 487). See notes on NGC 3395.
******************************
NGC 3397 = NGC 3329 = UGC 5837 = MCG +13-08-033 = CGCG 351-034 = PGC 32059
10 44 39.4 +76 48 35; Dra
V = 12.2; Size 1.8'x1.0'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 140°
See observing notes for NGC 3329.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3397 = H. I-284 on 2 Apr
1801 (sweep 1096). He recorded
"considerably bright, very small, irregular figure." This is one of
15 far northern galaxies with large systematic errors due to a
misidentification of the offset star and the telescope misaligned off the
meridian. A corrected position
matching
John Herschel made an independent discovery on 2 Sep 1828. He described h733 as "pretty bright; irreg round; pretty suddenly much brighter middle; 15" diameter." His position (measured 3 times) clearly shows NGC 3397 (H. I. 284) = NGC 3329 (h733). The modern designation for this galaxy is NGC 3329, despite William's earlier discovery of NGC 3397.
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10 51 31.5 +55 23 27; UMa
V = 13.6; Size 1.0'x0.3'; Surf Br = 12.2; PA = 78°
17.5" (4/22/95): brighter of a pair of galaxies
oriented N-S. NGC 3398 is a faint,
narrow edge-on streak 4:1 E-W, 1.0'x0.25'.
Some catalogues refer to this galaxy as
William Herschel discovered NGC 3398 = H. III-792 on 17 Apr 1789 (sweep 922). He logged "very faint, small, elongated 20 deg sp nf, easily resolvable". His re-reduced position with respect to 44 UMa is 10 51 27 +55 25.2 (2000), which is 5 seconds of RA west and 1.5' too far north. This was first of 26 galaxies discovered on this night, which contained three sweeps in the north.
Lewis Swift found this galaxy again on 8 May 1890 and reported it in list Sw. 9-24 (later IC 644). UGC, CGCG and RC3 label this galaxy IC 644.
CGCG and UGC misidentify
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10 49 27.6 +16 13 06; Leo
V = 13.6; Size 1.5'x1.5'
17.5" (4/22/95): fairly faint, small, round, very small
bright core. Forms a pair with
double system
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3399 = m 205 on 1 Apr 1864 and
noted "F, vS". There is
nothing at his position, but 1.0 minute of RA west is
******************************
10 50 45.5 +28 28 09; LMi
V = 13.2; Size 1.3'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 100°
17.5" (4/22/95): fairly faint, elongated 3:2 WNW-ESE,
1.2'x0.7'. Fairly even
concentration to a small bright core and stellar nucleus. Located 6.2' WSW of mag 9.1
William Herschel discovered NGC 3400 = H. II-361 = h768 on 11 Apr 1785 (sweep 396). John Herschel made 3 observations, calling it both "faint" (17 Feb 1827) and "pretty bright" (13 Apr 1831).
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10 50 24 +05 48; Sex
= Not found.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3401 = H. III-88 on 13 Apr
1784 (sweep 191) and noted "Suspected but did not verify it, as I would
lose no time in this place." Dreyer commented in his 1912 revision
of Herschel's catalogues that III. 88 was "only seen in Sweep 191; place
in NGC is that of Auwers from 56 Leonis.
In the sweep it is 1.9 min p[receding], 3' n of II. 131 [= NGC
3423].” But on 30 Dec 1786 he
found an object described as "cF, round, very gradually brighter middle, 4
or 5' diameter, almost condensed to a very large nucleus in the
middle." Caroline assumed it was
the same nebula suspected on 13 Apr 1784 (based on position), but the
observation applies to
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10 50 26.1 -12 50 43; Hya
See observing notes for
Andrew Ainslie Common found NGC 3402 in 1880 with his 36-inch reflector. There is nothing at his position, but 10 sec of RA east and 10' south is NGC 3411. This galaxy was discovered by WH on 25 Mar 1786. RNGC misidentifies PGC 32444 (a much fainter galaxy) as NGC 3402. See Corwin's identification notes.
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NGC 3403 = UGC 5997 = MCG +12-10-089 = CGCG 333-062 = CGCG 334-004 = PGC 32719
10 53 55.1 +73 41 24; Dra
V = 12.2; Size 3.0'x1.2'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 73°
17.5" (2/8/91): fairly faint, moderately large, elongated 5:2 WSW-ENE, weakly concentrated. A mag 12.5 star is 3.1' SE of center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3403 = H. II-335 = h767 on 3 Apr 1785 (sweep 390) and noted "pF, cL, iE." On 4 Nov 1831 (sweep 382), John Herschel reported, "pF; L; E; very gradually brighter middle; 60" l, 40" br."
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10 50 18.0 -12 06 31; Hya
V = 13.1; Size 2.1'x0.5'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 84°
18" (3/29/03): fairly faint, edge-on 4:1 ~E-W,
1.4'x0.3', bright core.
Andrew Ainslie Common discovered NGC 3404 in 1880 with his
36-inch silvered-glass reflector.
There is nothing at his position but 15' south is
Guillaume Bigourdan rediscovered this galaxy on 19 Apr 1898
while searching at Common's position, placed it correctly, and assumed it as
new (Big. 403 = IC 2609). MCG
labels the galaxy
******************************
NGC 3405 = UGC 5933 = MCG +03-28-014 = CGCG 095-033 = PGC 32414
10 49 43.3 +16 14 19; Leo
V = 13.9; Size 1.0'x1.0'
17.5" (4/22/95): fairly faint, fairly small. At first glance appeared elongated 3:2
SW-NE but on closer inspection resolves into a very close pair of small faint
galaxies with a 20" separation between centers. The brighter component (NGC 3405) is at the SW end and is
very small and round. The fainter
member (
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3405 = m 206 on 1 Apr 1864 and noted "F, eS, alm stell, close to S*." Marth's RA is 1.0 minute too large. The same offet error was made with NGC 3399. This is a double system; 0.7' x 0.7' + 0.2' x 0.2', with a separation of 0.35' SW-NE.
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10 51 44.2 +51 01 26; UMa
V = 12.7; Size 0.9'x0.7'; Surf Br = 12.0
17.5" (4/22/95): moderately bright, fairly small, elongated 3:2 WSW-ENE. Visually this appeared as a double system with a very small bright core and stellar nucleus that was offset at the SW end and a faint extension to the NE of this core [SDSS reveals a strongly interacting double system, with nuclei separated by only 12"].
Located in a field with several mag 11 stars and situated
between mag 9
John Herschel discovered NGC 3406 = h771 on 17 Feb 1831
(sweep 328) and recorded "pB; 2nd class; R; pretty gradually brighter
middle; among many stars. His
position matches
C.E. Burton, LdR's observer on 17 Mar 1868, recorded
"Suspected to be triple, principal Nucl being double in direction sp nf, B
point in p edge of sp part. Neby
susp from this p with a 3rd knot in it." On 1 Apr 1878 Dreyer observed the field again, discovered
nearby NGC 3410, and noted "preceding one [NGC 3406] pB, pL irr R
gradually much brighter middle. 2
points of condensation, brighter one sp centre..." The fainter northeast nucleus is the
merged companion
******************************
10 52 17.9 +61 22 46; UMa
V = 13.6; Size 1.4'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 15°
17.5" (3/19/88): faint, very small, slightly elongated SSW-NNE, small bright core. A mag 14 star just 1.1' NNE is collinear with the major axis of the galaxy.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3407 = H. III-919 = h769 on 9 Apr 1793 (sweep 1039) and recorded "vF, vS, near a vS star. On 25 Mar 1832 (sweep 406), John Herschel noted "eF; S; R; 6"[diameter]."
******************************
NGC 3408 = UGC 5977 = MCG +10-16-016 = CGCG 291-006 = PGC 32616
10 52 11.7 +58 26 18; UMa
V = 13.5; Size 1.0'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 175°
17.5" (3/19/88): faint, small, round, broad
concentration, diffuse, no sharp edges or nucleus. A mag 15 star is 1.6' NE. Located 4.2' NNE of mag 8.8
William Herschel discovered NGC 3408 = H. III-913 = h770 on 8 Apr 1793 (sweep 1038). He noted "very faint, very small." His RA, which I re-reduced, is 15 seconds too small. On 9 Feb 1831 (sweep 323), John Herschel recorded "vF; S; R: is north of 2 pB stars forming an isosceles triangle."
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10 50 20.3 -17 02 37; Hya
V = 15.0; Size 1.1'x0.25'; Surf Br = 13.8; PA = 9°
18" (3/11/07): extremely faint, fairly small, very
elongated 3:1 ~N-S, 0.5'x0.15'. A
faint star is just west of the south end of the galaxy. Located 12' NNE of
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3409 = LM 2-426 (along with NGC 3420 and NGC 3431) in 1886 and recorded "mag 16.0, 0.3' dia, E 200°, 2 vF st inv in eF neb ". His position and PA of 20° matches MCG -03-28-012 = PGC 32470.
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NGC 3410 = MCG +09-18-042 = CGCG 267-021 = Holm 217b = PGC 32594
10 51 53.5 +51 00 23; UMa
V = 14.1; Size 0.4'x0.3'; Surf Br = 11.9
17.5" (4/22/95): very faint, very small, round, low surface brightness, no concentration. A mag 14 star is 2' SSE. Located 1.8' SE of double system NGC 3406.
Lawrence Parsons, the 4th Earl of Rosse, discovered NGC 3410
on 1 Apr 1878 while observing GC 2222 = NGC 3406. He reported "2 neb, pos 121.6°, dist 115.2". The actual separation is ~110" and
the identification with
******************************
NGC 3411 = NGC 3402? = MCG -02-28-012 = PGC 32479
10 50 26.1 -12 50 43; Hya
V = 11.9; Size 2.1'x2.1'; Surf Br = 13.5
18" (3/29/03): at 257x, moderately bright, moderately
large, round, small brighter core, 1.0' diameter. A line of 3 mag 14 stars is close west. Forms a pair with
William Herschel discovered NGC 3411 = H. III-522 = h776 on 25 Mar 1786 (sweep 545) and recorded "cF, S, little brighter middle, iR." His position matches MCG -02-28-012 = PGC 32479. Andrew Common's NGC 3402 is probably a duplicate observation of this galaxy.
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10 50 53.3 +13 24 43; Leo
V = 10.5; Size 3.6'x2.0'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 155°
17.5" (4/9/94): bright, fairly large, elongated 2:1 NNW-SSE, 3.0'x1.5', smooth halo, sharply concentrated with a striking bright core. The core is evenly concentrated to an almost stellar nucleus. A mag 14 star is at the NE edge of the halo 1.4' N of center. Member of the Leo Group (also called the M96 Group).
William Herschel discovered NGC 3412 = H. I-27 = h774 on 8 Apr 1784 (sweep 187) and recorded "pB, S, lE. It seems to have a nucleus or very bright place in the middle." John Herschel made two observations and described it on 20 Mar 1830 (sweep 241) as "B; R; very suddenly much brighter middle almost to a *; 30" dia."
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10 51 20.8 +32 45 58; LMi
V = 12.1; Size 2.2'x0.9'; Surf Br = 12.7; PA = 178°
17.5" (4/9/94): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated
2:1 N-S, 1.4'x0.7', broad concentration, no nucleus. First of three in the field with
William Herschel discovered NGC 3413 = H. II-493 on 7 Dec 1785 (sweep 487) and noted "F, S." Within the next minute he also logged NGC 3424 and 3430. Although his RA was 20 seconds too large, the NGC position (measured by d'Arrest) is accurate. Still, Francis Pease listed it as a new nebula in his 1920 paper based on Mt Wilson plates taken with the 60-inch.
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10 51 16.3 +27 58 30; LMi
V = 11.0; Size 3.5'x2.6'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 20°
13.1" (3/24/84): bright, slightly elongated ~N-S, small
bright nucleus, fairly small.
Forms a pair with
8" (3/24/84): faint, slightly elongated.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3414 = H. II-362 = h773 on 11 Apr 1785 (sweep 396) and note "pB, pL." John Herschel made four observations (h773) while 8 observations were made at Birr Castle.
Bindon Stoney, using LdR's 72" on 6 Mar 1851, noted "Another neb eF, S. 2' np." Again on 23 Feb 1857 as well as 22 Mar 1857, R.J. Mitchell mentioned "about 1' np is vvF neb? lE." and "about 1.5' np [NGC 3414] there is a vvF patch of neby." These observations clearly refer to 2MASX J10511304+2800221 = PGC 93597, although it was not assigned a GC or NGC designation!
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10 51 42.7 +43 42 44; UMa
V = 12.6; Size 2.1'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.6; PA = 10°
17.5" (4/6/91): moderately bright but fairly small,
elongated 2:1 N-S, small bright core, fairly high surface brightness
overall. Three mag 12 stars to the
south form an equilateral triangle with the nearest star 56" S. Forms a pair with
William Herschel discovered NGC 3415 = H. II-718 = h772 on
15 Jan 1788 (sweep 800) and logged "F, S, stellar; the np corner of a
small trapezium." His
position and description matches
******************************
NGC 3416 = MCG +07-22-073 = CGCG 212-063 = CGCG 213-002 =
10 51 48.3 +43 45 51; UMa
V = 15.3; Size 0.6'x0.2'; Surf Br = 12.7; PA = 30°
17.5" (4/6/91): extremely faint, small, elongated 2:1 SW-NE. Forms a close pair with NGC 3415 3' SSW.
R.J. Mitchell discovered NGC 3416 on 30 Mar 1854 using LdR's
72", while observing NGC 3415.
He noted "[NGC 3415 is] elongated N-S, another neb [NGC 3416] north
of it, about 3' dist." At this position is
******************************
10 51 01.7 +08 28 25; Leo
V = 14.4; Size 0.7'x0.4'; PA = 85°
16" LX200 (4/14/07): very faint, small, elongated 3:2 E-W, 0.4'x0.25', slightly brighter core. Located 8' SW of NGC 3425.
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3417 = m 207 on 25 Mar 1865 and
noted "eF, vS, alm stell."
His position matches
******************************
NGC 3418 = UGC 5963 = MCG +05-26-023 = CGCG 155-030 = PGC 32549
10 51 24.0 +28 06 43; LMi
V = 13.2; Size 1.4'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 75°
13.1" (3/24/84): faint, slightly elongated, diffuse, even surface brightness, held steadily with averted. Located 8.5' NNE of NGC 3414.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3418 = H. II-363 = h775 on 11 Apr 1785 (sweep 396) and noted "F, S." John Herschel made four observations, while the LdR assistants recorded this galaxy on 5 nights.
******************************
NGC 3419 = UGC 5964 = MCG +02-28-018 = CGCG 066-041 = Ark 259 = LGG 216-003 = PGC 32535
10 51 17.7 +13 56 46; Leo
V = 12.5; Size 1.2'x1.0'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 115°
28" (4/12/18): at 285x; moderately bright, fairly small, ~40 diameter, very sharp bright stellar nucleus. A fainter star is superimposed on the east side of the halo [9" NE of the stellar nucleus]. Brightest in a trio (USGC U327 at z = .01) with NGC 3419A and NGC 3391.
NGC 3419A = UGC 5965, located 4.6' N, appeared faint, extremely thin edge-on, at least 6:1 NW-SE, ~60"x10". Contains a slightly brighter core (very elongated) with low surface brightness extensions using averted vision. A mag 11.7 star is 1.6' SW.
17.5" (4/9/94): fairly faint, fairly small, round, 0.8' diameter, brighter core. Forms the southwest vertex of a triangle with two mag 14 stars 1.5' N and 1.3' ESE.
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3419 = m 208 = T. 1-27 = T. 5-7 on 1 Apr 1864. He recorded "faint, very small, round, almost stellar, close to a small star." Wilhelm Tempel rediscovered the galaxy on 15 Mar 1876 and included it in his first discovery list as "faint, small, class III, forms an obtuse triangle with the stars." A micrometric position was published in his 5th discovery paper.
The original discovery, though, was made by William Herschel on 14 Jan 1787 (sweep 691). He noted a "very faint, very small, most likely a small patch." His position lands 2.7' SW of the galaxy, within his usual errors. As he was uncertain, the discovery wasn't catalogued and Herschel wasn't credited in the NGC.
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NGC 3420 = MCG -03-28-011 = PGC 32453
10 50 09.7 -17 14 33; Hya
V = 13.7; Size 1.4'x1.1'; Surf Br = 14.0; PA = 30°
18" (3/11/07): faint, small, round, very low surface brightness halo is difficult. Contains a 15"-20" core that is weakly concentrated surrounded by a hint of an larger halo. NGC 3431 is 21' NE and NGC 3409 lies 12' NNE. This group is located about 0.9 degrees SSE of 3.1-magnitude Nu Hydrae.
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3420 = LM 2-427 (along
with NGC 3409 and NGC 3431) in 1886 and recorded "mag 15.4, 0.2' dia, R,
*8.5 6' S.". His position is
30 sec of RA west of
******************************
NGC 3421 = IC 652 = MCG -02-28-013 = PGC 32514
10 50 57.6 -12 26 55; Hya
V = 13.7; Size 2.0'x1.6'; Surf Br = 14.8; PA = 175°
18" (3/29/03): faint, small, round, 0.4' diameter. Possibly viewed the core only. Forms a pair with NGC 3422 5.5' NE. NGC 3422 lies 23' NW and NGC 3411/IC 647 is 25' SSW.
Andrew Ainslie Common discovered NGC 3421 in 1880 with his 36-inch silvered glass reflector and noted "Two, F, R". His (rough) position is 13' N of MCG -02-28-013 and this galaxy has a companion (NGC 3422 = MCG -02-28-015) at 5.5' NE. Herbert Howe measured an accurate position (given in the IC 2 Notes section).
Stephane Javelle independently discovered the galaxy on 19
Apr 1892 and recorded it in list 1-187 (
******************************
NGC 3422 = MCG -02-28-015 = PGC 32534
10 51 17.3 -12 24 09; Hya
V = 13.6; Size 1.3'x0.4'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 54°
18" (3/29/03): fairly faint, very small, round, 20" diameter (viewed core only). A mag 10.3 star is 42" SSW of center, just off the SW end. Forms a pair with NGC 3421 5.5' SW. NGC 3404 lies 23' NW and NGC 3411 29' SSW.
Andrew Ainslie Common discovered NGC 3422 in 1880 with his
36-inch silvered glass reflector, along with NGC 3421. The pair were simply noted as
"Two, F, R". There is
nothing at his position, but 13' south is the pair
******************************
NGC 3423 = UGC 5962 = MCG +01-28-012 = CGCG 038-029 = PGC 32529
10 51 14.3 +05 50 24; Sex
V = 11.1; Size 3.8'x3.2'; Surf Br = 13.7; PA = 10°
48" (4/16/15): very bright, large, slightly elongated SW-NE, ~3'x2.5', large bright core. A mag 15.8 star is superimposed on the SSW side, 1.2' from center. Spiral structure is evident at 488x, particularly along a curving outer arm running from clockwise from east to north. This arm contains three HII knots.
An obvious faint knot, 8"-10" diameter, is at the north end 1.1' from center. The brightest knot is at the northeast end of the halo 1.1' from center, and it appeared fairly faint/faint, round, 12" diameter. The faintest knot (SDSS J105118.10+055024.7) is directly east of center by 1.0' and noted as very faint, round, 6" diameter. In addition to these three, a 4th knot is due south of center by 0.6'. This HII region was very faint, round, 8" diameter.
Two additional objects were seen just off the south side of NGC 3423, but these are separate galaxies. 2MASX J10511769+0548323, situated 2.0' SE of the center, is fairly faint to moderately bright (V = 15.7), small, round, moderate surface brightness, 15" diameter. 2MASX J10511769+0548323, 2.0' S of center, is very faint (V = 17.1), very small, ~9"x6" SW-NE. This latter galaxy has a redshift of z = .069 and lies far in the background at a light-travel time of ~920 million years.
17.5" (4/6/91): moderately bright, fairly large, elongated 3:2 SSW-NNE, 3'x2', fairly low surface brightness, elongated bright core appears offset to the west. The faint halo seems more extensive to the east of the core. Two mag 12/13 stars are off the NE edge with the mag 12 star 2.4' from the center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3423 = H. IV-6 = H. II-131 = h777 on 23 Feb 1784 (sweep 157). He recorded IV-6 as "faint, large, cometic with a bright point in the center. The nebulous part is extremely faint." His derived RA was 30 seconds too large. He found the nebula again on 13 Apr 1784 (sweep 191) and logged II-131 as "pretty bright, very large, almost round, little brighter middle, resolvable." The RA on this sweep was 1 min too large and 5' too far south, so Caroline assumed it was a new nebula. Additional observations were made on 2 Feb 1786 (sweep 521), 17 Apr 1786, 30 Dec 1786 (sweep 675) and associated as IV-6.
John Herschel made three observations under h777 and equated his father's two entries, though he mistakenly also equated H. III-88 (NGC 3401). While compiling the NGC, Dreyer sorted out the identities H. IV-6 = H. II-131 = h777 = NGC 3423.
Bindon Stoney, observing on 7 Mar 1851 at Birr Castle, noted "2 knots [HII regions] on n side." On the 29 Mar 1856 observation, R.J. Mitchell noted a "star in the south edge, another fainter in f edge, 2 knots in n edge. I think it is resolvable."
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NGC 3424 = UGC 5972 = MCG +06-24-025 = CGCG 184-028 = Holm 218a = LGG 218-004 = PGC 32584
10 51 46.7 +32 53 59; LMi
V = 12.4; Size 2.8'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 112°
17.5" (4/9/94): moderately bright, moderately large,
very elongated 3:1 WNW-ESE, 2.1'x0.7'.
A mag 13.5 is superimposed at the east edge and a brighter mag 11.5 star
is 1.4' SE of center. Forms a
striking pair with
William Herschel discovered NGC 3424 = H. II-494 = h778 on 7 Dec 1785 (sweep 487), along with NGC 3413 and 3420. He recorded "pB, pL, iR." Although brighter NGC 3430 is only 6' NE, they weren't described together. John Herschel made an observation on 6 Mar 1828 (sweep 128): "bright; little elongated in a wisp; the sp of 2 [with NGC 3420].
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NGC 3425 = NGC 3388? = UGC 5967 = MCG +02-28-021 = CGCG 066-044 = PGC 32555
10 51 25.5 +08 34 01; Leo
V = 13.1; Size 1.0'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.0
16" LX200 (4/14/07): fairly faint, small, round, 0.5' diameter, stellar nucleus. Forms an equilateral triangle with a mag 10 star 2.3' SE and a mag 11 star 2.7' SSW. NGC 3417 lies 8' SW.
17.5" (4/15/99): faint, fairly small, round, 0.7' diameter, weak concentration. View hampered by a mag 10 star 2.2' SE. This star is collinear with two mag 11/13 stars to the WSW. A faint companion off the south side was not noticed.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3425 = H. III-108 = T. 1-28
on 17 Apr 1784 (sweep 197) and noted "eF, eS, r." There is nothing at his position, but
30 sec of RA west and 3' north is
Wilhelm Tempel couldn't find H. III-108 at H's position in 1877, but instead found two nebulae and assumed one was Herschel's III-108. Dreyer chose the slightly brighter northern nebula as III-108 and catalogued T. 1-29 as NGC 3427. Andrew Common's NGC 3388 (found in 1880) may be a duplicate observation of NGC 3425 (equivalence suggested by Harold Corwin).
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10 51 41.8 +18 28 50; Leo
V = 13.1; Size 1.1'x0.8'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 105°
17.5" (4/22/95): fairly faint, small, round, sharply defined 30" halo, well concentrated to a small bright core. A wide pair of mag 11.5-12 stars (1.0' separation) are 2.2' and 2.8' N.
Lewis Swift discovered NGC 3426 = Sw. 6-37 on 23 Mar 1887
and recorded "pF; S; R: coarse double star near north." His position is 7 sec of RA preceding
******************************
NGC 3427 = UGC 5966 = MCG +02-28-020 = CGCG 066-043 = Todd 4 = PGC 32559
10 51 26.3 +08 17 55; Leo
V = 13.3; Size 1.1'x0.5'; Surf Br = 12.5; PA = 77°
24" (4/15/23): at 327x; moderately bright, elongated
2:1 SW-ENE, contains a bright core that increases to a faint stellar nucleus.
The extensions are much fainter and extend 0.8'x0.4'.
16" LX200 (4/14/07): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1 WSW-ENE, small brighter core. Situated just south of the line connecting a mag 11.9 star 1.7' ENE and a mag 12.5 star 2.3' W. NGC 3417 lies 12' NW.
17.5" (4/15/99): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1 WSW-ENE, 40"x20", slightly brighter core, faint stellar nucleus. With averted vision the halo increases to nearly 1.0'x0.5'. Nestled in a 10' stream of stars oriented NW-SE between a mag 12 star 1.7' NE and a mag 12.5 star 2.3' W. NGC 3425 lies 16' due north.
Wilhelm Tempel discovered NGC 3427 = T. 1-29 in 1877, while searching for NGC 3425 (H. III-108). He ran across two nebulae, one of which was NGC 3425 and the other was new. His position is 2' too far south.
David Todd independently discovered this galaxy on 11 Nov 1877 and listed it as object #4 in AN 2698 during his search for a trans-Neptunian planet. The surrounding field stars match this galaxy. Tempel didn't give a specific date in list I, so either Tempel or Todd could be the discoverer.
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10 51 29.5 +09 16 46; Leo
V = 13.1; Size 1.5'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 170°
18" (3/29/03): faint, fairly small, elongated 3:2 ~N-S,
0.6'x0.4', weak concentration.
Located 5' NE of mag 7.9
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3428 = m 209 on 25 Mar 1865 and
noted "vF, S, lE, gradually little brighter middle." His position matches
Ainslie Common probably found this galaxy again in 1880 with
his 36" reflector. See
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NGC 3429 = NGC 3428? = UGC 5968 = MCG +02-28-022 = CGCG 066-045 = PGC 32552
10 51 29.5 +09 16 46; Leo
See observing notes for NGC 3428. Identification uncertain.
Andrew Ainslie Common discovered NGC 3429 in 1880 using his 36-inch silvered glass reflector. His position is just 3 sec of RA east and 1' south of NGC 3428, which was discoverd by Marth on 25 Mar 1865. So, likely NGC 3429 is a duplicate observation of this galaxy.
RNGC misidentifies
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NGC 3430 = UGC 5982 = MCG +06-24-026 = CGCG 184-029 = Holm 218b = LGG 218-005 = PGC 32614
10 52 11.7 +32 56 59; LMi
V = 11.6; Size 4.0'x2.2'; Surf Br = 13.8; PA = 30°
17.5" (4/9/94): moderately bright, moderately large,
elongated 2:1 SW-NE, 3.0'x1.5', only a weak broad concentration. A mag 14.5 star is off the south side
1.4' SE from the center. Three
bright stars are in the field; mag 8.6
William Herschel discovered NGC 3430 = H. I-118 = h779 = h782, along with NGC 3413 and 3424, on 7 Dec 1785 (sweep 487). He recorded "cB, cL, irregularly round, mbB." Caroline apparently made a 1° error recording or copying the offset from 46 UMa.
Due this error, when John Herschel found h779 (NGC 3430) on 6 Mar 1828 (sweep 128), he assumed it was new and logged it as a "Nova" with description "B; L; E; gradually brighter in the middle; the nf of 2 [with NGC 3424]." Still looking for his father's H. I-118, he recorded it again as h782 on 3 Apr 1831 as a "Nova or I. 118" and described "B; L; the nf of 3 on a line [with NGC 3413 and NGC 3424]. The nebula may possibly be I. II8 as none exists in the place indicated by my Father." He added designations for both of his observations in the General Catalogue (GC), as well as H. I-118. Herschel has a long note in the GC regarding the probable 1° error in his father's sweep. By the time of the NGC, Dreyer sorted things out and equated NGC 3430 = H. I-118 with GC 2236 and 2239, though GC 2233 is also an alias.
In February and April of 1855, Birr Castle assistant R.J. Mitchell reported seeing a possible "dark bay" south or southwest of the nucleus. Photographs shows this is a darker gap between the core region and the southern spiral arm.
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NGC 3431 = MCG -03-28-014 = PGC 32531
10 51 15.0 -17 00 29; Crt
V = 13.6; Size 1.3'x0.3'; Surf Br = 12.4; PA = 130°
18" (3/11/07): faint, fairly small, elongated 5:2 SW-NE, 0.6'x0.25', weak concentration. A mag 13 star lies 1' NE and a similar star 2.8' SSW. NGC 3409 lies 13' WSW while NGC 3420 is 21' SW.
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3431 = LM 2-428 on 5 Jan
1887 with the 26" refractor at the Leander-McCormick Observatory. His position and description (mag 15.0,
0.6'x0.2', E 130°, gradually brighter then suddenly brighter in the middle to a
nucleus) matches
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NGC 3432 = Arp 206 = VV 11 = UGC 5986 = MCG +06-24-028 =
10 52 31.0 +36 37 09; LMi
V = 11.3; Size 6.8'x1.5'; Surf Br = 13.6; PA = 38°
17.5" (3/25/95): fairly bright, large, edge-on 6:1 SW-NE, 3'x0.5. Irregular surface brightness and fainter on the southwest end. Appears to have a sharper light cut-off on the north side (due to dust?). A mag 12.5 star is 48" E of center and two mag 12/13 star are very close to the southwest tip 1.4' from center. The galaxy appeared asymmetric and brightest just north of the mag 12.5 star near the core [this corresponds to an HII complex]. A very weak enhancement [this is the core] is close west-southwest of this star.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3432 = H. I-172 = h780 on 19
Mar 1787 (sweep 719) and recorded "cB, about 2' long and 1/2' broad from
sp to nf. In the preceding part a
few stars pretty close together, and in the following part one, but
unconnected." His position matches
On 11 Mar 1831 (sweep 331), John Herschel recorded, "pB; vmE; 90" l, 12" br; pos = 44.2° It southern extremity touches the large star of a double star [at the south end]. Can this nebula have moved?" On 7 Feb 1832 (sweep 401), he logged "vF; a long ray pos = 40.8°; has a double star class 4 in middle, and one more." But the star at the east edge of the middle is only single. Rudolph Spitaler measured the position of a knot or HII region at the northeast end in an observation at Vienna in 1891.
Friedrich Bidschof measured two micrometric positions at the Vienna Observatory in Feb 1892 - one for the center or core and a second at a knot (HII complex) I mentioned in my notes.
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10 52 03.9 +10 08 54; Leo
V = 11.6; Size 3.5'x3.2'; Surf Br = 14.1; PA = 50°
24" (2/22/14): moderately bright, large, irregularly
round, 2.5'x2.0', fairly low surface brightness, weak even concentration to
small, slightly bright core and a faint stellar nucleus. Appears to be a face-on spiral, though
too faint to resolve the arms. A
mag 9.6 star is 8.5' E and 6' further NE of this star is
17.5" (2/28/87): moderately bright, moderately large,
diffuse, weak concentration, slightly elongated.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3433 = H. III-20 = h783 on
11 Mar 1784 (sweep 164) and noted as "vF, r[esolvable]". There is nothing at his position, but 1
minute of RA east and 2' N is
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10 51 58.1 +03 47 31; Leo
V = 12.1; Size 2.1'x1.9'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 5°
17.5" (3/25/00): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated
4:3 N-S, ~1.3'x1.0'. Located 4.6'
NW of mag 9
Brightest in close trio with
William Herschel discovered NGC 3434 = H. III-497 = h784 on 27 Jan 1786 (sweep 513) and recorded "cF, S, R, very little brighter middle." On 9 Apr 1828 (sweep 142), John Herschel logged "pB; R; very gradually little brighter middle; 30"."
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10 54 48.4 +61 17 23; UMa
V = 13.2; Size 1.9'x1.2'; Surf Br = 14.0; PA = 35°
17.5" (3/19/88): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated SW-NE, bright core.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3435 = H. II-887 = h781 on 9 Apr 1793 (sweep 1039) and noted "F, pL, bM, iF." His position is 3.8' southwest of UGC 6025 (similar offset as NGC 3407, the previous object in the sweep). John Herschel's RA was 1 minute too small and this error was copied into GC and NGC.
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NGC 3436 = MCG +01-28-016 = CGCG 038-039 = Mrk 1266 = Todd 6 = PGC 32633
10 52 27.5 +08 05 38; Leo
V = 13.9; Size 0.8'x0.5'
24" (4/15/23): at 229x and 375x; between faint and fairly faint, small, roundish, diffuse but can hold steadily with averted. The slightly brighter central region is 15"-20" and the halo swells to 30" with averted vision. NGC 3427 is 20' NW.
17.5" (4/15/99): very faint, very small,
irregular. Sometimes I had the
impression that a very faint star was superimposed. Located 7' S of mag 8.5
David Todd discovered NGC 3436 = Todd 6 on 30 Nov 1877 (AN
2698) using the 26-inch Clark refractor at the USNO during his search of a
trans-Neptunian planet. There is
nothing at his very rough position, but based on Todd's sketch, Corwin was able
to identify NGC 3436 as
RNGC places NGC 3426 at 10 42.4 +07 56 (2000) or 8.9 min west of Todd's position. There is nothing at this location in CGCG, MCG or RC3 and I couldn't identify any object at this position on the DSS! I mentioned this error in RNGC Corrections #6.
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10 52 35.7 +22 56 04; Leo
V = 12.1; Size 2.5'x0.8'; Surf Br = 12.7; PA = 122°
17.5" (2/8/91): moderately bright, fairly large, very elongated 3:1 NW-SE, 2.4'x0.8'. Two mag 14 stars are near the NW end collinear with the major axis and a mag 13.5 star is off the SW side 3.0' from center. Slightly brighter at the SE end and also just west of the weak core. Appears slightly bowed out on the north side and flatter on the south side. There is a sharp light cutoff along the north side with a strong impression of a dust lane.
8" (4/24/82): fairly faint, small, very elongated NW-SE.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3437 = H. II-47 = h786 on 12 Mar 1784 (sweep 166) and recorded "pL, E, resolvable." I think I can distinguish 3 or 4 stars in it, towards the middle, and in a row." His position was 11 seconds of RA too large and 1' too far north. John Herschel made three observations and measured an accurate RA.
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NGC 3438 = UGC 5988 = MCG +02-28-025 = CGCG 066-052 = PGC 32638
10 52 26.0 +10 32 50; Leo
V = 13.3; Size 0.8'x0.8'; Surf Br = 12.7
17.5" (2/28/87): fairly faint, small, round, bright core. A mag 13.5 star is 1.0' SE. NGC 3433 lies 25' SSW.
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3438 = m 210 on 25 Mar 1865 and
noted "vF, eS, alm stell."
His position corresponds with
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10 52 25.7 +08 33 27; Leo
V = 14.2; Size 0.4'x0.3'
17.5" (4/15/99): extremely faint, very small, slightly elongated, 20" diameter. This galaxy was surprisingly faint and required averted and could not hold steadily. A mag 12 star lies 2.8' S. Located 15' E of NGC 3425.
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3439 = m 211 on 25 Mar 1865 and
noted "eeF, vS, alm stell."
His position corresponds with
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10 53 49.6 +57 07 08; UMa
V = 13.2; Size 2.1'x0.5'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 48°
17.5" (3/12/88): fairly faint, small, very elongated
SW-NE, small bright core. Forms a
pair with
William Herschel discovered NGC 3440 = H. III-914 = h785 on 8 Apr 1793 (sweep 1038) and noted "very faint, small, little extended."
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10 52 31.1 +07 13 30; Leo
V = 13.6; Size 0.7'x0.4'; Surf Br = 12.1; PA = 5°
18" (3/29/03): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 4:3
N-S, 0.8'x0.5', very weak concentration.
A mag 14 star lies 1.2' NE.
Located 4.9' W of mag 8.7
Edward Holden discovered NGC 3441 on 6 Apr 1882 with the
15.6-inch Clark refractor at the Washburn Observatory in Madison,
Wisconsin. He simply noted
"pB", but his position is fairly accurate (1' south of
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10 53 08.1 +33 54 36; LMi
V = 13.4; Size 0.6'x0.5'; Surf Br = 11.9; PA = 30°
17.5" (4/22/95): fairly faint, small round, 25"
diameter, fairly high surface brightness.
Even concentration but no well-defined core or nucleus. A mag 14 star is 1.9' SE. Forms a pair with
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3442 = St. 13-59 on 15 Mar
1882 and described as "F, vS, R, mbM, r? His published position was reduced on 25 Mar 1884 and
matches
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10 53 00.4 +17 34 30; Leo
V = 13.1; Size 2.8'x1.4'; Surf Br = 14.4; PA = 145°
24" (2/22/14): fairly faint, moderately large,
elongated 2:1 NW-SE, 1.0'x0.5', low surface brightness halo with a small
brighter core. A mag 13-13.5 star is 1.6' E.
17.5" (2/8/91): fairly faint, very small, slightly elongated 4:3 NW-SE, small very bright core, substellar nucleus.
Lewis Swift discovered NGC 3443 = Sw. 6-38 on 24 Apr 1887
with the 16" refractor at Warner Observatory and noted "eeF; vS;
R." His RA is just 8 sec west
of
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NGC 3444 = UGC 6004 = CGCG 066-055 = FGC 1148 = PGC 32670
10 53 00.1 +10 12 32; Leo
V = 14.7; Size 1.1'x0.2'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 19°
24" (2/22/14): at 260x appeared faint, small, edge-on 3:1 SSW-NNE, 21"x7", low even surface brightness, not difficult. Located 6' NE of a mag 9.6 star and 14' ENE of NGC 3433.
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3444 = m 212 on 25 Mar 1865 with
Lassell's 48" on Malta and commented "eF, vS, pmE". His position is 1' south of
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NGC 3445 = Arp 24 = VV 14a = UGC 6021 = MCG +10-16-023 =
10 54 35.9 +56 59 24; UMa
V = 12.6; Size 1.6'x1.5'; Surf Br = 13.4
48" (5/16/12): bright, moderately large, very irregular
shape, roughly 1.2' diameter. The
brightest portion of the galaxy is on the north and east side and is very
mottled with slightly brighter knots (a couple are on the east end). Attached on the west side and spreading
further south is a spiral arm, appearing more like a diffuse extension. This "arm" fades out on the
southeast side of the galaxy and just beyond is
MCG +10-16-24, an interacting companion, appeared faint to fairly faint, elongated 5:2 E-W, 20"x8". 2MASX J10544552+5659588 lies 1.5' ENE, between the main galaxy and a mag 10.3 star just 2.2' NE of NGC 3445. It appeared faint, very small, round, 12" diameter. The bright star detracted somewhat from viewing the fainter companions.
17.5" (3/12/88): fairly bright, moderately large,
slightly elongated WNW-ESE, broad concentration, bright core. Located 2.2' SW of a mag 10 star. Brightest in a group with
William Herschel discovered NGC 3445 = H. I-267 = h787 on 8 Apr 1793 (sweep 1038). He recorded "considerably bright, pretty large, irregularly round, about 1 1/4' dia. The greatest part of it almost equally bright." On 9 Feb 1831 (sweep 323), John Herschel wrote, "pB; L; R; very gradually little brighter middle; has a star 10m 2' nf." His position is accurate.
On 30 Mar 1856 Birr Castle assistant R.J. Mitchell recorded
"[NGC 3445] is very curious, it is round with bright nucleus excentric and
a dark curved passage sp this nucleus as in sketch. [See Plate III, fig 6]. The neby outside this dark curve runs up perhaps to a streak
sf which is vF, but of the existence of which I have doubt." The "streak south-following",
which was displayed on the sketch, is certainly
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10 52 07 -45 08 24; Vel
Size 7'
14" (4/2/16 - Coonabarabran, 123x and 160x): ~30 stars visible in a 6' group with a mag 8.7 star at the northeast corner. The richest part is a 3'x1' group elongated NW-SE on the northeast side of the cluster. This subgroup includes a mag 10.6 star. An unequal mag 10.2/13 pair at 19" is on the south side with another mag 10.5 star ~45" SW. The brightest star in the field is mag 8.4 at ~10' NW.
The galaxy
24" (2/22/14): viewed on the meridian at an elevation
of 8°, but not an optimal view. At
200x, mag 8.7
John Herschel discovered NGC 3446 = h3301 on 15 Mar 1836 and recorded "The chief * (9m) of a cluster class VIII, 7' dia, not rich or comp. Stars 10...13."
Brian Skiff gives a position of 10 52 07 -45 08.3 centered
on CoD-44 6866 (mv 9.0) and suggests a diameter of 15' if a few bright stars to
the west are included, though Herschel's "chief *" is part of a 7'
group. The galaxy
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10 53 23.9 +16 46 25; Leo
V = 12.6; Size 3.7'x2.1'; Surf Br = 14.7; PA = 0°
18" (3/29/03): very faint, fairly large, very diffuse
glow. Located 3' NE of mag 9.9 SAO
99342 and nearly collinear with mag 9.1
17.5" (4/18/87): very faint, moderately large, very
diffuse. Three bright stars form
an isosceles triangle to the SW; the closest is mag 9.2
John Herschel discovered NGC 3447 = h3300 on 18 Mar 1836 and recorded "eF; vL; very gradually very little brighter middle; 3' or 4' diam. Has a bright coarse double star (9m) sp." NGC 3447 is the most northerly discovery that Herschel made from the Cape of Good Hope (four galaxies in Leo were discovered on that date) His position and description matches.
******************************
10 54 39.0 +54 18 19; UMa
V = 12.1; Size 5.6'x1.8'; Surf Br = 14.4; PA = 65°
48" (5/16/12): this interacting starburst galaxy appeared very bright, large, very elongated 3:1 WSW-ENE, high surface brightness, irregular shape, mottled appearance. At the northeast end of the galaxy is a large, bright knot, ~25"x12", which is possibly the disrupted core of the galaxy. Occasionally an extremely faint tidal tail could be glimpsed, extending perhaps 1.5' ENE. The beginning of the tail near the bright knot was easily seen. At the very tip was a marginally visible galaxy, perhaps glimpsed a couple of times. The dim tail extends the length from 2.4' to 3.6'.
NGC 3448 is interacting with
24" (1/31/14): viewed supernova 2014G, which was discovered on Jan. 14th. This SN is located at the SW tip (44" west and 20" south of center) and was quite easy. It was immediately noticed at 125x, but 200x provided a better view. It was listed at mag 14.0, but I thought it might be a bit brighter.
17.5" (3/12/88): fairly bright, moderately large, very elongated 3:1 WSW-ENE, halo increases to a small bright core. A mag 13.5 star follows 3.1' from center. An extremely faint knot is visible east of the core along the major axis about 35" from the center. Located 19' SE of 44 Ursa Majoris (V = 5.1).
William Herschel discovered NGC 3448 = H. I-233 = h788 on 17 Apr 1789 (sweep 922). He logged "pretty bright, pretty large, much brighter middle, elongated 30° south preceding to north following, resolvable. On 10 Feb 1831 (sweep 324), John Herschel wrote,"B; mE; gradually brighter in the middle; no nucl; 1 3/4' l, 20" br; pos = 67°."
NGC 3448 was observed 7 times at Birr Castle. On 1 Feb 1851 and 3 Mar 1851, darker divisions (dust) were noted by one of the Stoney brothers on both sides of the core. The one on the northeast side was more obvious. R.J. Mitchell, observing on 8 Mar 1856, recorded "mE, certainly dark spaces on each side of the nucleus, but not well seen; the following one rather more distinct. A sketch or diagram matches the photographic appearance with brighter knots at each ends of the extensions.
******************************
10 52 53.7 -32 55 39; Ant
V = 12.2; Size 3.3'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 148°
18" (4/9/05): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 4:3
NW-SE, 0.7'x0.5'. Moderate, even
concentration to a stellar nucleus with direct vision. Situated 6' NW of mag 8.5
John Herschel discovered NGC 3449 = h3302 on 29 Apr 1834 and
recorded "F; S; R; 15".
Has a * 6.7m sf." His
position and description matches
******************************
10 48 03.4 -20 50 57; Hya
V = 11.9; Size 2.5'x2.2'; Surf Br = 13.6; PA = 128°
18" (3/29/03): fairly faint, moderately large, nearly round, 1.8'x1.5'. Situated between two mag 12/13 stars 3.4' N and 3.4' S. DSS reveals a face-on symmetric barred spiral.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3450 = h3303 on 22 Mar 1835 and
logged "vF; L; R; very gradually little brighter middle; r;
90"." There is nothing
near his position, though
******************************
10 54 21.0 +27 14 22; LMi
V = 13.0; Size 1.7'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 50°
17.5" (2/8/91): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1 SW-NE, weakly concentrated but no core. A mag 11.5 star is 4.2' NW of center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3451 = H. II-364 = h789 on 11 Apr 1785 (sweep 396) and noted "pF, pL, lE, brightest towards the sf part." John Herschel made 4 observations; on one occasion calling it "eF" and on another "pB".
******************************
10 54 13.9 -11 24 18; Crt
V = 14.0; Size 1.1'x0.3'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 65°
18" (3/29/03): faint, very small streak, 20"x6", elongated ENE-WSW in the direction of a mag 12.5 star 1' ENE of center.
Ainslie Common discovered NGC 3452 in 1880 with his
silvered-glass 36" reflector and logged "eF, R, n of small
star". His position is 30 sec
of RA west and 3' north of
******************************
10 53 40.4 -21 47 35; Hya
V = 12.9; Size 1.1'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.3; PA = 4°
18" (3/29/03): fairly faint, fairly small, 0.9'x0.7', slightly elongated N-S, very weak concentration. A mag 14.5 star lies 1' SSW.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3453 = h3304 on 21 Mar 1835 and
logged "F; S; R; bM; 15"."
His position matches
******************************
NGC 3454 = UGC 6026 = MCG +03-28-030 = CGCG 095-060 = FGC 1155 = Holm 221b = LGG 219-004 = PGC 32763
10 54 29.4 +17 20 38; Leo
V = 13.5; Size 2.1'x0.4'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 116°
25" (3/31/19 - OzSky): at 244x; moderately bright and
large, very thin edge-on ~6:1 WNW-ESE, ~1.5'x0.25', low nearly even surface
brightness with only a very weak central concentration. Forms a nice pair with
24" (2/22/14): moderately bright and large, thin edge-on 5:1 WNW-ESE, 1.4'x0.3', weak concentration, tapers at the tips. Forms a striking pair with NGC 3455 3.6' S, with a mag 10.5-11 star directly between the pair.
17.5" (4/18/87): fairly faint edge-on streak 5:1 WNW-ESE, fairly small, slightly brighter along the major axis. Forms a pair with NGC 3455 3.6' S. Located 1.7' NNW of a mag 10.5 star.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3454 = h790 on 17 Mar 1831 (sweep 334) and recorded "pF; lE; the np of two [with NGC 3455]. His position is accurate, so there's no question of the identification, but I'm surprised he didn't describe this galaxy as very elongated.
R.J. Mitchell, Lord Rosse's assistant on 28 Mar 1856, called it "the n one is a long narrow ray np-sf."
******************************
NGC 3455 = UGC 6028 = MCG +03-28-031 = CGCG 095-062 = Holm 221a = LGG 219-005 = PGC 32767
10 54 31.0 +17 17 04; Leo
V = 12.0; Size 2.5'x1.5'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 80°
25" (3/31/19 - OzSky): at 244x; moderately bright, moderately large, oval 3:2 WSW-ENE, 0.8'x0.5', slightly brighter nucleus, slightly brighter along the major axis. Forms an excellent pair with NGC 3454 3.6' N with a mag 11.0 star midway.
24" (2/22/14): moderately bright, moderately large, elongated 3:2 WSW-ENE, 0.9'x0.6', broad concentration, no distinct core but an irregular surface brightness. Forms a striking pair with NGC 3454 3.6' N. A mag 10.5-11 star is directly between the two galaxies.
17.5" (4/18/87): moderately bright, fairly small, broad concentration, oval elongated 3:2 WSW-ENE. A mag 10.5 star is 2.0' N of center. Forms a pair with NGC 3454 3.6' N. The bright star is symmetrically placed between the galaxies.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3455 = H. II-82 = h791 on 21 Mar 1784 (sweep 181) and recorded ""F, S, lE, r. It's situation is south of a pB star." On 17 Mar 1831 (sweep 334), John Herschel wrote, "pB; E; gradually brighter in the middle; The south-following of 3 [with NGC 3454]; a *9-10m between them."
******************************
10 54 03.2 -16 01 39; Crt
V = 12.6; Size 1.9'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 85°
18" (3/29/03): moderately bright and large, elongated 4:3 ~E-W, 1.2'x0.9', brighter core. A mag 13 star is at the NE edge. Located just over one degree ENE of mag 3.1 Nu Hydrae.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3456 = H. IV-29 = h792 on 8
Feb 1785 (sweep 371). He recorded "a small star with an extremely faint
brush towards the preceding side, or a vF nebula close to and preceding the
star. I perceived it in stopping
to gage [count stars], otherwise should certainly have overlooked it. 240 shewed the the same." There is nothing at his position, but
40 seconds of RA east and 4' further south is
On 16 Dec 1828 (sweep 111), John Herschel wrote, "a *12m with an extremely faint nebulous appendage. At first it seemed to envelope the *; but Mr Dunlop, to whom I showed it, considered it be detached." Based on photographs taken at the Helwan Observatory in 1919-20, it was described as "F, 1.75' x 0.75', E 80°; spiral with sharp nucleus."
******************************
NGC 3457 = NGC 3460 = UGC 6030 = MCG +03-28-032 = CGCG 095-065 = PGC 32787
10 54 48.6 +17 37 16; Leo
V = 12.6; Size 0.9'x0.9'; Surf Br = 12.2
24" (2/22/14): bright, fairly small, round, 30"
diameter, sharply concentrated with a very bright core that increases to a
bright stellar nucleus.
17.5" (4/18/87): fairly bright, small, round, compact, high surface brightness, bright core, stellar nucleus. NGC 3455 lies 20' SSW.
Francis Baily discovered NGC 3457 = h793 on 25 Mar 1827
using John Herschel's 18.7-inch reflector. John Herschel wrote, "Stellar. 2 or 3 stars with a
nebulous blur observed by Mr. Baily." Baily was the President of the Astronomical Society of
London at the time and a regular guest of Herschel. The position is an excellent match (0.9' SE) with
R.J. Mitchell, assistant to Lord Rosse, also observed UGC 6030 on 27 Mar 1854. He described a "A S neb [NGC 3461] north of a bright one [UGC 6030], distance about 5' or 6'."
Lewis Swift also recorded this galaxy on 24 Aug 1883, though
his RA in his first discovery paper (#9) was 25 seconds too large. Swift's and Mitchel's observations were
combined by Dreyer into
******************************
NGC 3458 = UGC 6037 = MCG +10-16-026 = CGCG 291-014 = PGC 32854
10 56 01.5 +57 07 01; UMa
V = 12.6; Size 1.4'x0.9'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 5°
17.5" (3/12/88): fairly bright, very small, round, very bright stellar nucleus, very faint small halo. Forms a wide galaxy pair with NGC 3445 13.9' SW in the field.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3458 = H. I-268 on 8 Apr 1793 (sweep 1038). He recorded a "very bright, very small, round stellar nebula." He included a small sketch in his 1811 PT paper (fig. 39) and noted "this may be a former planetary in a higher state of condensation."
******************************
10 54 44.2 -17 02 31; Crt
V = 13.4; Size 1.6'x0.5'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 156°
18" (3/29/03): appeared as a ghostly streak 4:1 NNW-SSE, 1.2'x0.3', slightly brighter center but no well-defined core. Collinear with a mag 14 star 2' NNW of center.
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3459 = LM 2-429 on 5 Jan
1887 and recorded "mag 14.0, 1.0'x0.3', gradually brighter then suddenly
brighter in the middle to a nucleus." His position is ~20 sec of RA west of
******************************
NGC 3460 = NGC 3457 = UGC 6030 = MCG +03-28-032 = CGCG 095-065 = PGC 32787
10 54 48.6 +17 37 16; Leo
V = 12.6; Size 0.9'x0.9'; Surf Br = 12.2
See observing notes for NGC 3457.
R.J. Mitchell, assistant to Lord Rosse, discovered NGC 3460 = Sw. 1-9 on 27 Mar 1854. His description reads, "A small neb [NGC 3461 = PGC 32793] north of a bright one [NGC 3460 = PGC 32787]. distance about 5' or 6'." Lewis Swift also recorded this galaxy on 24 Aug 1883, though the RA in his first discovery paper is 25 seconds too large. These two observations were combined into NGC 3460.
Most likely John Herschel or observing guest Francis Baily first discovered this galaxy on 25 Mar 1827, and it was catalogued as h793 = NGC 3457. The Slough Catalogue position is accurate, though the description "Stellar. 2 or 3 stars with a nebulous blur observed by Mr. Baily", appears to describe IC 656, a small clump consisting of three faint stars and a dim galaxy just 4' east.
Mitchell's observation clearly refers to NGC 3460 = UGC 6030
and NGC 3461. Later, on 22 Mar
1878, Dreyer mentions finding an "eS cl , with a *12 in Pos 175 deg, dist
305 arcsec". It's most likely
that this observation is not related to the galaxy but may refer to the 3 faint
stars + galaxy 4.5' following NGC 3457 (mentioned above). RNGC has a typo and equates
******************************
10 54 55.3 +17 42 29; Leo
V = 15.4; Size 0.5'x0.4'
24" (2/22/14): very faint, very small, round, 12" diameter. Can just hold steadily with averted vision at 260x. Located 5.4' NNE of NGC 3457 = NGC 3460.
R.J. Mitchell discovered NGC 3461 on 27 Mar 1854 using LdR's
72" and recorded "A small neb [NGC 3461] north of a bright one [NGC
3460]. distance about 5' or 6'."
On 4 Apr 1878, Dreyer also logged this faint galaxy, "..I found a
neb [NGC 3457 = NGC 3460] pB, pL, R, gradually brighter in the middle with a
vF, diffused nebula [NGC 3461] in position 17°, distance 326". At this offset is
NGC 3461 is not included in the CGCG, MCG or RC3. RNGC misidentifies
******************************
10 55 21.1 +07 41 48; Leo
V = 12.4; Size 1.7'x1.2'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 60°
24" (4/15/23): at 229x and 327x; moderately bright,
contains a bright core that increases to the center, slightly elongated,
40" diameter. The galaxy forms the NW vertex of an equilateral triangle
with mag 8.3
18" (3/29/03): fairly faint, fairly small, nearly round, 0.8'x0.7', very small bright core, stellar nucleus.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3462 = H. II-16 = h794 on 23 Jan 1784 (sweep 102) and recorded "a small cometic nebula. I am not sure whether it is cometic or not." On 17 Apr 1830 (sweep 250), John Herschel logged it as "vF; S; R: pretty suddenly brighter middle; 12"."
David Todd also picked up this galaxy on 13 Nov 1877 and recorded it as #5 in his search for a trans-Neptunian planet (AN 2698). The surrounding field stars are an exact match.
******************************
10 55 13.4 -26 09 26; Hya
V = 12.9; Size 1.5'x0.7'; Surf Br = 12.7; PA = 77°
18" (4/29/06): faint, small, elongated 2:1 WSW-ENE, 0.8'x0.4', weakly concentrated. Nearly collinear with a pair of mag 13/14 stars ~5' N (at 17" separation). An identical distance to the south is a mag 10.5 star with the galaxy at the midpoint of these stars. Located ~4.5° ESE of Hydra I cluster.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3463 = h3305 on 26 Mar 1835 and
logged "F; R; gradually little brighter middle; 20"." His position matches
******************************
10 54 39.9 -21 04 00; Hya
V = 12.6; Size 2.6'x1.7'; Surf Br = 14.0; PA = 112°
18" (3/29/03): fairly faint but moderately large, roughly oval, 1.7'x1.2' WNW-ESE, broad concentration with a hint of mottled structure.
Ormond Stone discovered NGC 3464 = LM 1-178 on 14 Jan 1886
with the 26" refractor at Leander McCormick Observatory and recorded
"mag 15.0, 1.3'x0.4', E 125°."
His very rough position (nearest min of RA) is less than 1 min of RA
east of
******************************
10 59 31.3 +75 11 29; Dra
V = 13.5; Size 1.3'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.8; PA = 171°
24" (5/25/14): at 375x appeared fairly faint, fairly
small, elongated 4:3 ~E-W, 30"x22", contains a very small brighter
core and occasional stellar nucleus.
A mag 14-14.5 star is just 40" SE. First in the
18" (3/30/05): faint, fairly small, slightly elongated ~NW-SE, ~0.7'x0.5', contains a small, brighter core. A mag 13.5 star is off the SE side and a 29" pair of mag 12 stars lies 3.5' NE. First in a trio with NGC 3500 9' E.
17.5" (4/25/98): extremely faint, fairly small, round. First of three in trio with NGC 3500 9' E and NGC 3523 14.5' ESE. Appears as a low surface brightness spot of 25" diameter (probably viewed core) with little or no concentration. Observation of the group was severely affected by hazy skies.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3465 = H. III-967 = h795,
along with H. III-968, on 2 Apr 1801 (sweep 1096). He only recorded a single position and noted "Two, the
1st [NGC 3465] very faint, very small.
The 2nd, extremely faint and smaller than the first. It is a little more north and
following, but very near to it." This is one of 15 far northern galaxies
with large systematic errors due to a misidentification of the offset star and
the telescope misaligned off the meridian. Corrected positions matching
John Herschel independently discovered NGC 3465 on 4 Apr 1832. He logged h795 as "extremely faint; pretty large; round; very gradually little brighter middle; 30", a double star north following points to it." His position and description clearly applies to UGC 6056. JH was credited with the discovery of NGC 3465 in the GC and NGC, though his father should probably receive credit.
******************************
10 56 15.5 +09 45 16; Leo
V = 13.7; Size 1.2'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 55°
17.5" (4/22/95): fairly faint, fairly small, slightly
elongated SW-NE, 0.9'x0.7', weak even concentration. A mag 11 star is 3.0' due west. Forms a pair with
John Herschel discovered NGC 3466 = h796 on 18 Jan 1828
(sweep 120) and recorded "vF; has another [NGC 3467] still fainter
following; has also a * 9m preceding the same parallel." His position and description matches
******************************
NGC 3467 = UGC 6045 = MCG +02-28-030 = CGCG 066-067 = PGC 32903
10 56 44.1 +09 45 32; Leo
V = 13.6; Size 0.9'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.0
17.5" (4/22/95): fairly faint, small, round, 40" diameter. Appears slightly smaller than NGC 3466 located 7.0' W but has a sharper concentration with a small bright core. A mag 11 star lies 3.5' NW (similar brightness to the mag 11 star preceding NGC 3466).
John Herschel discovered NGC 3467 = h798 on 18 Jan 1828
(sweep 120), along with NGC 3466.
His position matches
******************************
10 57 31.2 +40 56 46; UMa
V = 13.0; Size 1.6'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 8°
17.5" (4/22/95): faint, small, slightly elongated SW-NE, 0.6' diameter. Sharp concentration with a small bright core and stellar nucleus. A mag 12.5 star is 1.7' ENE of center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3468 = H. III-632 = h797 on 18 Mar 1787 (sweep 716) and noted "cF, vS, R, gradually much brighter middle." On 3 Feb 1788 (sweep 804) he added "lE in the meridian [north-south]." On 12 Apr 1830 (sweep 248), John Herschel wrote, "not vF; S; R; pretty suddenly brighter middle; 12"; a *13m near."
******************************
10 56 57.7 -14 18 03; Crt
V = 13.1; Size 1.9'x1.2'; Surf Br = 13.8; PA = 115°
18" (3/13/04): faint, fairly small, round, 0.8' diameter, weak concentratin with a very small slightly brighter core. Located 6' SSE of a mag 9 star.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3469 = h3306 on 7 May 1836 and
simply noted "eeF; S."
His position matches
******************************
10 58 44.9 +59 30 39; UMa
V = 13.2; Size 1.4'x1.2'; Surf Br = 13.7; PA = 170°
17.5" (3/19/88): faint, small, slightly elongated NNW-SSE, weak concentration, diffuse outer halo.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3470 = H. II-888 = h799 on 9 Apr 1793 (sweep 1039) and noted "F, S, R, bM."
******************************
10 59 09.1 +61 31 51; UMa
V = 12.5; Size 1.7'x0.8'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 14°
17.5" (3/19/88): moderately bright, moderately large, elongated 2:1 ~N-S, broad concentration, faint elongated halo. Located 35' WSW of Alpha Ursa Majoris.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3471 = H. III-972 on 28 Nov
1801 (sweep 1102, under the pole).
He recorded "very faint, very small, round, brighter
middle." His position is 4'
north of
******************************
10 57 18 -19 38; Crt
= Not found, Corwin and RNGC.
Ormond Stone discovered NGC 3472 = LM 1-179 in 1886 and recorded "mag 15.5, 0.4' dia, R, gradually brighter in the middle." with the 26" refractor at Leander McCormick Observatory. There is nothing near his rough position (nearest min of RA). Harold Corwin was not able to identify a likely candidate, but lists ESO 572-025 as a possibility. RNGC classifies this number as nonexistent.
******************************
10 58 05.2 +17 07 27; Leo
V = 13.8; Size 1.1'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.6; PA = 40°
17.5" (4/22/95): faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1
SSW-NNE, 1.0'x0.5'. Unusual
appearance due to nearby foreground stars. A mag 12.5 star is attached at the NNE tip 0.5' from the
center and the galaxy extends to the SW almost to a fainter mag 14 star
45" from center. Appears unconcentrated with a low surface
brightness. Forms a close pair
with
William Herschel discovered NGC 3473 = H. III-67 on 21 Mar 1784 (sweep 181). He noted "a suspected nebulosity reaching from one star to a smaller which is about 2' south of it; 240x [eyepiece No. 4] confirmed it." His sketch (reproduced in Wolfgang Steinicke's book on Herschel) shows an elongated nebula between two apparent stars (or stellar cores). The northern star is at north edge of the halo and the southern star is probably the mag 13.6 star 1' S. Wolfgang suggests Herschel's southern star is NGC 3474, but that seems unlikely as the mag 13.6 star is more evident. In his 1814 PT paper (fig. 2), Herschel stated the arrangement was too unusual to be a pure line of sight coincidence, and the stars had formed within the nebula.
Heinrich d'Arrest measured an accurate position and similar to Herschel described NGC 3473 as "between 2 st 14 and 15m, the brighter one attached to the north limb."
******************************
NGC 3474 = MCG +03-28-042 = CGCG 095-081 = PGC 32989
10 58 08.8 +17 05 44; Leo
V = 13.9; Size 0.8'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.0
17.5" (4/22/95): faint, very small, round, 30" diameter, very small brighter core. Forms a close pair with brighter NGC 3473 1.9' NW.
Lewis Swift discovered NGC 3474 = Sw. 6-39 on 24 Apr 1887 and noted "vF; pS; R; GC 2267 [NGC 3473] near north." His RA is 8 seconds too large. William Herschel and d'Arrest both missed this galaxy.
******************************
10 58 25.3 +24 13 34; Leo
V = 13.1; Size 1.7'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.7; PA = 65°
17.5" (4/9/99): easily picked up at 100x while scanning
the field. Fairly faint, fairly
small, elongated 3:2 ~WSW-ENE.
Well concentrated with a bright, round core and an ill-defined diffuse
halo at least 1' along the major axis.
A mag 13 star is 1.4' N. A
couple of nearby faint companions were not seen but
William Herschel discovered NGC 3475 = H. III-332 = h800 on
10 Apr 1785 (sweep 394) and noted "vF, about 1' north aof a small
star." Caroline's reduced position
falls nearly 4' south of
******************************
10 58 07.6 +09 16 34; Leo
V = 13.8; Size 0.5'x0.5'
17.5" (3/22/96): very faint, very small, round,
20" diameter. A mag 14 star
is 1.2' E of center. Forms a pair
with
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3476 = m 213, along with NGC
3477, on 25 Mar 1865 and noted "eF, vS, alm stell." His position is
4' N of
******************************
NGC 3477 = CGCG 066-074 = PGC 32997
10 58 12.6 +09 13 03; Leo
V = 14.8; Size 0.7'x0.3'; PA = 70°
17.5" (3/22/96): extremely faint, very small, elongated 2:1 SW-NE (difficult to determine PA as requires averted vision to glimpse). A faint pair of mag 15 stars lies 2.3' N. At the SE edge of the 220x field is a matched pair of mag 9.5 stars at 16" separation. Forms a pair with brighter NGC 3476 3.7' NNW.
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3477 = m 214 on 25 Mar 1865 and
noted "eeF, eS, stell."
His position is 4' north of
******************************
10 59 27.3 +46 07 21; UMa
V = 12.9; Size 2.6'x1.2'; Surf Br = 13.9; PA = 132°
17.5" (4/6/91): faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1 NW-SE, 1.5'x0.75', large brighter middle but no defined nucleus. A pair of mag 11 stars are 3.9' S and 5.5' SSW with a separation of 2.0'.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3478 = H. III-705 = h801 on
5 Feb 1788 (sweep 808) and simply noted "vF". His position was 1.5' too far north
(similar offset as
******************************
10 58 55.5 -14 57 41; Crt
V = 13.0; Size 1.7'x1.2'; Surf Br = 13.7; PA = 175°
18" (3/5/05): faint, moderately large, slightly
elongated N-S, 1.1'x0.8'. Broad,
weak concentration to a relatively large, slightly brighter core.
Ormond Stone discovered NGC 3479 = LM 1-180 in 1886 with the
26" refractor at Leander McCormick Observatory. His rough position (nearest min of RA) is about 30 tsec west
of
NGC 3502 = LM 1-181, found by Leavenworth, is probably an independent observation with an error of 2.5 minutes in RA. This galaxy was found again by Stephane Javelle on 24 Mar 1909 and included in his unpublished 4th catalogue (J. 1670).
******************************
NGC 3480 = NGC 3476? = MCG +02-28-032 = CGCG 066-073 = PGC 32987
10 58 07.6 +09 16 34; Leo
See observing notes for NGC 3476. Identification uncertain.
Ainslie Common discovered NGC 3480 in 1880 with his 36" silvered glass reflector and simply noted "S, stellar." There is nothing at his position, though 12' southwest is NGC 3476. Bigourdan was unsuccessful in finding NGC 3480. Because of the scant description, the identification NGC 3476 = NGC 3480 is uncertain. See Corwin's notes.
******************************
10 59 26.6 -07 32 40; Crt
V = 13.0; Size 0.8'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.5; PA = 136°
18" (3/29/03): fairly faint, fairly small, round, 0.6'
diameter, smooth surface brightness.
Located 5' NW of mag 8.8
Ormond Stone discovered NGC 3481 = LM 2-430 in 1886 with the
26" refractor at Leander McCormick Observatory and recorded "mag
15.5, 0.3' dia, rr; prob vF Cl; *9 in PA 120° [east-southeast] at
5'." His position is 0.3 min
of RA west and 2' south of
******************************
10 58 34.3 -46 35 03; Vel
V = 12.4; Size 1.9'x1.4'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 14°
14" (4/2/16 - Coonabarabran, 123x and 160x): fairly
faint to moderately bright, elongated 5:3 ~N-S, ~50"x30", broad
concentration to a small brighter core.
Situated in a rich Vela star field 8.8' WNW of mag 8.2
John Herschel discovered NGC 3482 = h3308 on 1 Mar 1835 and recorded "eF; S; R; gradually brighter in the middle; 30"." His position is within 1' of ESO 264-056 = PGC 33025. RNGC calls it an unverified southern object.
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10 59 00.2 -28 28 37; Hya
V = 12.1; Size 1.8'x1.3'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 105°
18" (3/17/07): fairly bright, moderately large,
slightly elongated, 1.2'x1.0', fairly high surface brightness. Well concentrated with a small bright
core that brightens to the center.
Forms the southern vertex of a small triangle with mag 9
18" (4/29/06): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 4:3 ~E-W, 0.8'x0.6', irregular halo. Increases to a small bright core and stellar nucleus. Located 1.8' SW of mag 9 HD 95183. Completing a triangle with the galaxy is a mag 12 star 1.3' N.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3483 = h3307 on 10 May 1834 and
recorded "pF, S, R, bM, 15". Among stars." His position matches
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11 03 00 +75 49; Dra
= Not found, Carlson.
John Herschel found NGC 3484 = h802 on 5 Apr 1832 (sweep 414) but noted it was "A very doubtful object." He apparently was looking for H. III-967 as he queried if this was his father's object.
In the 1911 Monthly Notices paper on William Herschel's 15 objects discovered on 2 Apr 1810, it was noted "Nothing shown [for NGC 3484] on the photographic [Greenwich plate]" and Dreyer repeats this in his 1912 NGC Correction list.
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11 00 02.4 +14 50 28; Leo
V = 11.8; Size 2.3'x2.0'; Surf Br = 13.3
17.5" (4/18/87): fairly faint, moderately large, fairly diffuse, oval slightly elongated WSW-ENE, faint stellar nucleus. A mag 12 star is 1.7' W of center. Possible member of the Leo group.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3485 = H. II-100 = h804 = h3309 on 8 Apr 1784 (sweep 187) and noted "F, pL r." John Herschel made three observations at Slough and one at the Cape of Good Hope.
Bindon Stoney, observing on 9 Apr 1852 at Birr Castle "suspected a dark curved passage sp centre." Also on 15 Mar 1855, R.J. Mitchell "suspect[ed] a knot in p and one in f edge. Query, a ring with a Nucl in centre?"
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11 00 23.8 +28 58 30; LMi
V = 10.5; Size 7.1'x5.2'; Surf Br = 14.3; PA = 80°
13.1" (3/24/84): fairly bright, large, slightly
elongated E-W, 4'x3', diffuse outer halo with a brighter core. Located 15' SW of mag 7.9
William Herschel discovered NGC 3486 = H. I-87 = h805 on 11 Apr 1785 (sweep 396). He recorded "very bright, very large, the brightness decreasing very gradually." John Herschel logged a total of 10 observations of this galaxy!
R.J. Mitchell, Lord Rosse's assistant on 7 Mar 1856, wrote "pB, R, B central Nucl, light mottled about Nucl?
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11 00 46.6 +17 35 15; Leo
V = 13.8; Size 0.9'x0.4'; Surf Br = 12.5; PA = 153°
24" (3/28/17): at 260x; fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 5:2 NNW-SSE, ~45"x18". Appears brighter along a thin spine of the major axis.
18" (5/31/03): very faint, fairly small, very elongated 3:1 NNW-SSE, 0.7'x0.25', nearly even surface brightness.
Lewis Swift discovered NGC 3487 = Sw. 3-58 on 5 Mar 1886 and logged "eeF; pretty small; round; extremely difficult; in vacancy." His position is 35 seconds of RA too far west.
Stephane Javelle found it again on 10 Apr 1907 with the
30-inch refractor at the Nice Observatory. He included it as J. 1667 in his unpublished 4th
catalogue. At the same time he
discovered
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11 01 23.6 +57 40 39; UMa
V = 12.9; Size 1.9'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.7; PA = 175°
17.5" (3/12/88): moderately bright, fairly small,
slightly elongated ~N-S, gradually brighter core. A mag 13.5 star is at the SSE edge 1.0' from center. Forms a pair with
William Herschel discovered NGC 3488 = H. I-269 = h803 on 8 Apr 1793 (sweep 1038). He logged "considerably bright, round, about 1' dia, just north of a small star." He included a simple sketch (fig. 11) in his 1811 PT paper as an example of a round nebula. On 9 Feb 1831 (sweep 323), John Herschel noted "It is north of a *13, just at the edge of the nebula."
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11 00 18.6 +13 54 04; Leo
V = 10.3; Size 3.5'x2.0'; Surf Br = 12.3; PA = 70°
18" (5/14/07): very bright, large, elongated 2:1 WSW-ENE, 2.5'x1.25'. Sharply concentrated with a round, intense core (relatively small) highlighted by a very bright quasi-stellar nucleus. A mag 12.5 star lies 1.5' WSW of center, just outside the halo. Member of the Leo Group (also called the M96 Group).
17.5" (4/1/95): very bright, moderately large, elongated 5:3 WSW-ENE, 2.5'x1.5'. Unusually bright, round core dominates view with an almost stellar nucleus with direct vision. The halo nearly reaches to a mag 13 star 1.5' SW of center.
8" (12/6/80): fairly bright, bright core.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3489 = H. II-101 = h806 on 8 Apr 1784 (sweep 187) and recorded "pretty bright, small, much brighter middle than at the extremes." A sketch was included in his 1814 publication (fig. 11) as an example of a round nebula with the description (based on a later observation) "a pretty large, round, extremely faint, easily resolvable nebula. I can almost see the stars in it."
John Herschel made two observations at Slough and four were made at Birr Castle. JH and d'Arrest commented this galaxy should have been placed in William's 1st class.
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10 59 54.4 +09 21 42; Leo
V = 13.8; Size 0.5'x0.5'
18" (5/15/10): at 220x appeared as a faint, very small, round glow, just 15" diameter. The surface brightness was fairly low and occasionally a very faint stellar nucleus was glimpsed. Located 1.5' NW of a mag 12 star.
Andrew Ainslie Common discovered NGC 3490 in 1880 with his
36" silvered-glass reflector.
His approximate position is 0.4 min of RA west of
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11 00 35.4 +12 09 42; Leo
V = 13.2; Size 0.9'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.0
17.5" (3/22/96): faint, very small, round, 30"
diameter, very small bright core.
Located in a blank region bordered by brighter stars forming a circular
pattern 16'-18' diameter. The
brightest of these are mag 8
William Herschel discovered NGC 3491 = H. III-21 = h807 on
11 Mar 1784 (sweep 164) and noted "vF, S. I could not be sure till I put on 240x." His position was ~50 seconds of RA
preceding
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11 00 57.3 +10 30 21; Leo
V = 13.2; Size 1.1'x0.7'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 100°
17.5" (4/25/98): faint, fairly small, slightly
elongated ~E-W, 1.0'x0.8'. Weak,
even concentration to a slightly brighter core and nucleus. This galaxy is the brightest in AGC
1142 with
This system is a post-merger with two main nuclei separated by 10" SW-NE and two fainter nuclei involved.
Christian Peters discovered NGC 3492 around 1880 with the 13.5" refractor at the Litchfield observatory in New York. The discovery, probably made while making observations for a star catalog and atlas, wasn't published in either of his two lists in 1881 and 1882, so the discovery must have been communicated directly to Dreyer. The NGC position is accurate.
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11 01 27.8 +27 43 10; LMi
V = 14.2; Size 1.1'x0.3'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 84°
18" (5/31/03): faint, small, edge-on 7:2 ~E-W,
0.6'x0.15', even surface brightness.
A mag 14 star lies 0.7' SW of center. Located 27' SW of
John Herschel discovered NGC 3493 = h808 on 24 Dec 1827
(sweep 343) and noted "eF; has a small star sp." His position (two sweeps) and
description matches
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11 01 10.9 +03 46 28; Leo
= **?, Corwin. "Not found", Carlson.
Wilhelm Tempel discovered NGC 3494 in 1882 and described in
his 5th paper "6' north from the middle knot [of
Dorothy Carlson listed NGC 3494 as nonexistent in her 1940 NGC Correction paper and RNGC repeats this classification. See Corwin's notes.
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NGC 3495 = UGC 6098 = MCG +01-28-027 = CGCG 038-088 = PGC 33234
11 01 16.3 +03 37 40; Leo
V = 11.8; Size 4.9'x1.2'; Surf Br = 13.6; PA = 20°
17.5" (5/10/86): fairly faint, fairly large, edge-on oriented SSW-NNE, 4'x1', broad concentration, mottled or uneven surface brightness (probably caused by a dark lane). Located 10.5' E of 58 Leonis (V = 4.8).
William Herschel discovered NGC 3495 = H. III-498 = h809 on 27 Jan 1786 (sweep 513). He noted "very faint, much extended." His position is accurate, as it was recorded only 43 seconds after logging 5th magnitude 58 Leonis, the offset star. John Herschel made three observations on consecutive sweeps, first recording on 7 Apr 1828 (sweep 141): "F; mE; 60° with meridian; 60" length; 15-20" broad."
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10 59 34 -60 20 12; Car
V = 8.2; Size 9'
14" (4/2/16 - Coonabarabran, 160x): this cluster is
situated in a glorious Milky Way field!
The cluster is beautifully rich with mag 12 and fainter stars, roughly
60-75 stars in a 5'-6' circular region (this is the richest section) and
100-125 stars within a 9' region elongated E-W. On the east side is HJ 4395 = 11.5/12.0 pair at 9" and
a small knot of stars is on the northwest side. A mag 9.3 star is off the east
side and a mag 9.2 star is off the south side. Located 34' ENE of 6th magnitude
T Carinae and 80' WNW of
Sher 1, a very small cluster, is 13' NE of NGC 3496. Using an 18" f/4.5 at 182x it appeared as a small 1' knot of ~10 stars including a few bright mag 9.5-11 stars, but several are very faint.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3496 = h3310 on 14 Mar 1834 and recorded the "Place of a small double star in the following part of a loose, rich, pretty large cluster of stars 13m. 8 or 10' in diameter; a fine object; a very much condensed milky way group." His position is on h4395, a mag 12 pair at 9".
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11 07 18.1 -19 28 19; Crt
V = 11.9; Size 2.6'x1.4'; Surf Br = 13.2
See observing notes for
William Herschel discovered NGC 3497 = H. III-824 on 8 Mar
1790 (sweep 936) and logged "vF, vS, irregularly round, gradually little
brighter middle." His
position is within 2' (typical error) of
JH independently discovered this galaxy on 22 Mar 1835 and
logged h3316 as "F; S; R; pretty suddenly little brighter middle;
20". The preceding of two
[with
So, there are four aliases in the NGC/IC! Namely, NGC 3497 = NGC 3528 = NGC 3525 = IC 2624. NGC 3528 is the primary designation in modern catalogues.
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11 01 41.5 +14 21 04; Leo
= ***, Carlson.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3498 = H. III-75 on 8 Apr 1784 (sweep 187) and recorded "eF, not S. I had some doubts and therefore put on 240, but as there was not a star very near I could not adjust the focus, which cannot be done on a nebula. Therefore as it would have taken too much time to verify it, I went on."
There is nothing near his position and neither d'Arrest nor Bigourdan were able to find this nebula. Karl Reinmuth, in his 1926 photographic survey "Die Herschel-Nebel" reported "In Dreyer's place is a vF triple star, *14.7, *14.7, *16, a *14.7 f 1.8' of *16." The DSS shows a triple star with a brighter pair of mag 14.2/14.6 stars at 10" separation. Harold Corwin also identifies this number with this triple.
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11 03 11.0 +56 13 18; UMa
V = 13.6; Size 0.8'x0.7'; Surf Br = 12.9
17.5" (3/12/88): fairly faint, very small, round, bright core, stellar nucleus. Located 14.8' SE of Beta Ursa Majoris (V = 2.4).
William Herschel discovered NGC 3499 = H. III-793 on 17 Apr 1789 (sweep 922). He logged "very faint, very small, stellar neb. The brightness of Beta UMa is so considerable that it requires much attention to perceive this nebula." No observations were made by John Herschel or at Birr Castle. The RNGC position is 1.0 tmin too large.
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NGC 3500 = UGC 6090 = MCG +13-08-052 = CGCG 351-052 = KTG 34B = PGC 33277
11 01 51.5 +75 12 05; Dra
V = 13.8; Size 1.3'x0.6'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 45°
24" (5/25/14): at 280x appeared faint or fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1 SW-NE, 0.6'x0.3', very small brighter core. Second of three in the KTG 34 triplet, with NGC 3465 9.0' W and NGC 3523 7.0' SE. This galaxy's redshift-based distance is ~150 million l.y., while the other two lie at 325 million l.y.
18" (3/30/05): very faint, small, elongated 2:1 SW-NE, 0.6'x0.3', low surface brightness. Smallest and faintest of a trio with NGC 3523 7.2' SE and NGC 3465 9' W. This galaxy is incorrectly listed as nonexistent in the RNGC and it is not identified as NGC 3500 in UGC, MCG or CGCG.
17.5" (4/25/98): extremely faint, small, elongated 2:1 SW-NE, 30"x20". Faintest of trio with NGC 3465 9' W and NGC 3523 7' SE. A pair of mag 12 stars [30" separation] is 6' preceding. Observation difficult due to very poor transparency.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3500 = H. III-968, along with H. III-967, on 2 Apr 1801 (sweep 1096). He noted "Two, the 1st [NGC 3465] very faint, very small. The 2nd [NGC 3500] extremely faint and smaller than the first. It is a little more north and following, but very near to it." This is one of 15 far northern galaxies with large systematic errors due to a misidentification of the offset star and the telescope misaligned off the meridian. John Herschel assigned two GC designations to H. III-967 and H. III-968, but in the NGC Dreyer assigned both to NGC 3500, calling it a "double nebula, very near."
A corrected position for NGC 3500 that matches UGC 6090 was published in 1911 using plates taken at the Greenwich Observatory with the 30-inch reflector. Dreyer repeated this position in the notes to his 1912 update of Herschel's catalogues. UGC 6090 is not identified as NGC 3500 in any modern catalogue including RC3. RNGC classifies NGC 3500 as nonexistent. CGCG, UGC and PGC equate "NGC 3465 = NGC 3500" (following Karl Reinmuth and Dorothy Carlson). See Harold Corwin's identification notes.
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11 02 47.3 +17 59 21; Leo
V = 12.9; Size 3.9'x0.5'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 27°
17.5" (4/1/95): faint, edge-on 7:1 SSW-NNE, 3.0'x0.4',
low surface brightness, very slightly brighter elongated core. A mag 14 star is 2.3' SE of
center.
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3501= St. 11-10 on 14 Mar 1874 during an observation of NGC 3507. His published position (list 11, #10) was made on 23 Apr 1881 with description "very faint spindle, small, very thin, gradually condensed towards the center; length about 3 '; inclined 30° [NNE]" He made a later observation on 11 Mar 1886.
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NGC 3502 = NGC 3479: = MCG -02-28-027 = PGC 33053
10 58 55.4 -14 57 41; Crt
See observing notes for NGC 3479.
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3502 = LM 1-181 in 1886 and noted "mag 16.0, 1.2' dia, iR." His rough RA (nearest minute of time) was 2.5 minutes east of MCG -02-28-027 = PGC 33053.
Ormond Stone also found this galaxy at Leander-McCormic Observatory the same year (discovery priority unknown) and recorded LM 1-180 = NGC 3479 as "mag 15.5, 0.6' dia, E 90°." His rough position is essential correct -- 30 seconds of RA too far west. So, NGC 3502 = NGC 3479.
RNGC misidentifies
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11 01 17 -59 50 42; Car
Size 3'
24" (4/5/08 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): The brightest section of this nebulosity surrounds a group of 5 stars, consisting of a brighter mag 10.5 star with a faint, close companion (h4397 = 10.6/13.3 at 8") and three additional stars in a string. Several additional faint stars spiral out from the grouping. The haze that surrounds these 5 stars is ~3' in diameter. There was little or no contrast gain using a UHC filter, so the nebulosity does not have a significant emission component. Situated in a rich star field.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3503 = h3311 on 1 Apr 1834 and described "3 very close stars, 10m, in a nearly straight line, and a double star north of them, the whole involved in a very faint nebula." Paris Pismis reported it as new in her 1959 list of 24 new clusters found with the Schmidt camera at the Tonantzila observatory and noted "Quadruple star in nebulosity plus five faint stars; is the center of arcs that extend up 15'. Similar to NGC 2467." Interestingly, Joseph Turner found no nebulosity using the 48" Melbourne Telescope on 14 Feb 1879 (p.202 in logbook).
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NGC 3504 = UGC 6118 = MCG +05-26-039 = CGCG 155-049 = LGG 227-005 = PGC 33371
11 03 11.2 +27 58 20; LMi
V = 11.0; Size 2.7'x2.1'; Surf Br = 12.8
17.5" (3/25/95): bright, large, elongated 2:1 NNW-SSE,
2.5'x1.2'. The [inner] halo has a
fairly high irregular surface brightness.
Sharp concentration with a very small well-defined core dominating. The bright core appears offset to the
south side with the halo more extensive to the north. Two mag 14 stars lie 1.7' NNW (45" separation). First of three with
William Herschel discovered NGC 3504 = H. I-88 = h810, along with NGC 3512, on 11 Apr 1785 (sweep 396). His description reads, "cB, cL, irregularly round, bM." John Herschel made a total of 7 observations. R.J. Mitchell, Lord Rosse's assistant on 22 Feb 1857, recorded "mE, B nucl, arms faint, patchy,suspect dark space all around the nucleus." A month later he described "pL, Nucl vB and has a sensible disc, arms vF and patchy. I think I see a knot or patch in np end of neb."
The RA in the RNGC is 1.0 minute too large and the galaxy is
misplotted on the first version of Uranometria 2000 (later fixed). Also see
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11 02 59.7 -16 17 22; Crt
Size 1.0'x0.9'
See observing notes for
John Herschel discovered NGC 3505 = h3312 on 7 May 1836 and logged "pF; S; R; gradually little brighter middle. Has a star 14m near." There are two mag 14.5-15 stars about 1' northest and 1' southeast of Herschel's position, but no nearby galaxy.
Harold Corwin suggests this may be a duplicate observation of NGC 3508, which has a mag 13 star attached on the north-northeast tip of the galaxy. If this identification is correct, his declination is off by over 45'.
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NGC 3506 = UGC 6120 = MCG +02-28-047 = CGCG 066-105 = PGC 33379
11 03 12.9 +11 04 37; Leo
V = 12.5; Size 1.2'x1.1'; Surf Br = 12.6
17.5" (4/22/95): fairly faint, round, 1.0' diameter. Just a weak central brightening with no distinct core or nucleus. Preceded by a trio of mag 13.5 stars within 4'.
17.5" (3/28/87): fairly faint, fairly small, roundish, slightly brighter core. A triangle of mag 13 stars is just west.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3506 = H. III-22 = h811 on 11 Mar 1784 (sweep 164) and recorded "vF, vS. 240x made it considerably larger, but I saw it well enough with the common power not to doubt of the reality." John Herschel made three additional observations, writing on 18 Jan 1828 (sweep 120), "F; S; R; very gradually very little brighter middle."
The RA in the RNGC is 1.0 minute too large and the galaxy was misplotted in the first printing of Uranometria 2000 Atlas. Also see notes for NGC 3504.
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NGC 3507 = UGC 6123 = MCG +03-28-053 = CGCG 095-100 = Holm 224a = LGG 288-002 = PGC 33390
11 03 25.6 +18 08 08; Leo
V = 10.9; Size 3.4'x2.9'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 110°
17.5" (4/1/95): unusual appearance as a bright mag 10.5 star is superimposed very close to the center! Fairly faint, moderately large, 2.5' diameter, irregularly round. The core is difficult to view but is located just 30" SW of the superimposed star and the galaxy is slightly offset to the west side of the star. NGC 3501 lies 12.7' SW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3507 = H. IV-7 = h812 on 14 Mar 1784 (sweep 170). He described it as "F, pL. The nebulosity is of the milky kind. It situated between 2 bright stars but near the most north of them and to the south of that star. At first sight the nebula appears like an electric brush to the great star, but on examination I find it to have no connection with it. There is in the nebula, and pretty near the center of it, a vF star. The milky nebulosity is of a circular form." On 25 Mar 1827 (sweep 63), John Herschel called this object "a * 9m with vF neb attached; pos 70° sp = 200° +/- dist 30".
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NGC 3508 = IC 2622 = NGC 3505? = MCG -03-28-031 = PGC 33362
11 02 59.7 -16 17 22; Crt
V = 13.2; Size 1.0'x0.9'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 15°
18" (3/13/04): fairly faint, fairly small, round, 0.7' diameter, even surface brightness. A mag 13 star is attached on the NNE tip of the galaxy. At times the galaxy appears slightly elongated N-S, ~1.0'x0.7' and the DSS image confirms this impression. Observation made through thin clouds. This is a starburst and luminous infrared galaxy with an active nucleus.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3508 = H. II-507 = h814 on 31 Dec 1785 (sweep 503) and noted "F, S, E." John Herschel made a single observation on 16 Dec1827 (sweep 111) and wrote, "F; lE; bM; vL; involved a * 45°nf from the nucleus."
Lewis Swift found this galaxy on 14 Jan 1898 and claimed it
as new in list XI-117 (later
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11 04 23.6 +04 49 43; Leo
V = 12.7; Size 2.1'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 40°
48" (2/20/12): NGC 3509 = Arp 335 displayed a fascinating amount of structure at 375x, though conditions were subpar in terms of transparency and seeing. The appearance is very asymmetric with the brighter "central" portion elongated SW-NE and containing a very small, round, bright core. A small knot is just 15" S of the core. Attached on the northeast side of the central body is a well defined, easily visible tidal arm that gracefully sweeps to the northeast and then hooks sharply counterclockwise towards the south. The total length of the arm is perhaps 1.5', though it ends about 45" E of the core. The southwest side of the galaxy has no corresponding arm, but is slightly brighter along the south edge. A mag 16.5-17 star is 30" SW of the core on the west edge.
17.5" (4/1/95): fairly faint, moderately large, elongated 5:2 SSW-NNE, 1.6'x0.7'. Low surface brightness with a very weak concentration (no visible core). It was difficult to determine the outer extent of the halo but appears to have an asymmetric shape (slightly curved?).
William Herschel discovered NGC 3509 = H. III-598 on 30 Dec
1786 (sweep 675). He recorded "Suspected, extremely faint, small, little
extended. I could not verify
it." There is nothing at his
position, but 1.0 min of RA east and 3' N is
Dreyer commented in his 1912 "Scientific Papers of
William Herschel" that this number should probably be rejected since
Herschel noted there was fog "which indeed was so strong as to make
everything swim about me."
Still, this identification is reasonable as
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11 03 43.6 +28 53 06; LMi
V = 12.2; Size 4.0'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 163°
13.1" (3/24/84): faint, edge-on streak 4:1
NNW-SSE. Located 7.6' ESE of mag
7.3
William Herschel discovered NGC 3510 = H. II-365 = h813 on 11 Apr 1785 (sweep 396). He described it as "faint, much elongated, about 1 1/2' long but very narrow." Sweeps 396/397 on 11 Apr 1785 were Herschel's most productive night -- with 72 discoveries.
On 24 Dec 1827 (sweep 115), John Herschel wrote, "pB; mE; nearly in meridian; bM." The assistants at Birr Castle made a total of 5 observations. For example, on 1 Mar 1865 R.J. Mitchell noted, "Query, an oval shaped spiral; major axis n-s."
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11 03 23.7 -23 05 11; Crt
V = 11.0; Size 5.8'x2.0'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 76°
48" (4/18/15): at 488x; very bright, very large,
elongated 3:1 WSW-ENE, 5'x1.5'.
Well concentrated with a large bright oval core that gradually increases
to a small bright nucleus and stellar pip. The region surrounding the core is mottled, due to slightly
brighter regions and dust patches.
An ill defined broad spiral arm is on the west side of galaxy and curved
from north to south. A mag 14
star, 2.0' SW of center, was barely off the southwest end of this arm. A bright patch is 1' SW of center (not
part of the arm), and just to its north was a relatively large darker (dust)
region. A second broad arm arc was
visible at the east end of the galaxy.
It made a sharp curve clockwise, passing just inside a mag 13 star at
the eastern tip.
17.5" (4/1/95): fairly bright, large, very elongated
3:1 WSW-ENE, 4.0'x1.4'. Broad
concentration to a larger brighter core.
The galaxy is bracketed by a mag 13 star at the ENE end and a mag 14
star at the WSW tip. Forms a pair
with NGC 3513 10.8' SE. A mag 9.5
star (
William Herschel discovered NGC 3511 = H. V-39, along with NGC 3513, on 21 Dec 1786 (sweep 660). He recorded "very faint, much extended, very gradually brighter middle, about 8' long and 3' broad, near the parallel [E-W] but about 10° sp to nf."
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NGC 3512 = UGC 6128 = MCG +05-26-041 = CGCG 155-051 = PGC 33432
11 04 02.9 +28 02 12; LMi
V = 12.3; Size 1.6'x1.5'; Surf Br = 13.1
17.5" (3/25/95): moderately bright, fairly small, 1.2' diameter, round, weak concentration with an irregular surface brightness. Second of trio with NGC 3504 12' WSW and NGC 3515 14' NNE. Surrounded by three mag 12-13 stars 2.9' N, 3.7' E and 2.1' SW.
8" (4/24/82): faint, small, round. Forms a pair with NGC 3504 12' SW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3512 = H. II-366 = h815, along with NGC 3504, on 11 Apr 1785 (sweep 396) and noted "pF, pL, goes into the field with [NGC 3504]." He made an offset error as his position is southeast of NGC 3504, instead of northeast. John Herschel measured an accurate position, though he thought it was a new object. He incorrectly equated h815 with H. II-366 in the General Catalogue.
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NGC 3513 = ESO 502-014 = MCG -04-26-021 = UGCA 224 = PGC 33410
11 03 46.0 -23 14 38; Crt
V = 11.5; Size 2.8'x2.2'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 95°
48" (4/18/15): at 488x and 610x; this superb barred spiral has a strong bright bar oriented northwest to southeast. It is brighter along a narrow spine and contains a slightly brighter stellar nucleus. A prominent spiral arm is attached to the bar at the southeast end and sweeps sharply to the north. This well defined arm is relatively narrow and contains a small bright knot near the north end of the arm. A second arm is attached at the northwest end of the bar. This narrow arm shoots due south and rotates nearly 180° clockwise to the east on the south side of galaxy. It is slightly more separated from the central region than the northern arm and is patchy or knotty near the eastern end. Overall, the size is roughly 2.5'x2.0', extending northwest to southeast. A mag 15 star is 1.2' W of center, a mag 13 star is 1.7' E of center and a mag 17 star is just off the north side of the galaxy.
17.5" (4/1/95): fairly faint, moderately large, 2.5'x2.0', irregular surface brightness, only a slight central brightening. A mag 13.5 star is 1.7' E of center. A line of three equally spaced mag 11 stars lies about 4' S. Forms a pair with NGC 3511 10.8' NW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3513 = H. V-40, along with
NGC 3511, on 21 Dec 1786 (sweep 660). He recorded "very faint, much
extended, very large brighter middle, about 7' long and 3 or 4' broad in the
middle, about 10 or 15° from sp to nf near the parallel. His position matches
Based on a photograph taken with the 30-inch Reynolds reflector between 1912-14, Harold Knox-Shaw stated it was a "S-Shaped spiral".
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NGC 3514 = ESO 570-001 = MCG -03-28-035 = PGC 33430
11 03 59.9 -18 46 51; Crt
V = 12.8; Size 1.1'x0.9'; Surf Br = 12.7; PA = 115°
18" (3/5/05): faint, fairly small, elongated 3:2 ~E-W, 1.0'x0.7'. Broadly concentrated with a slightly brighter middle. Located 1.1° SE of mag 4.1 Alpha Crateris.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3514 = h3313 on 22 Mar 1835 and noted "vF; pL; R; very gradually very little brighter middle." His position is 15 tsec west of ESO 570-001.
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NGC 3515 = UGC 6139 = MCG +05-26-044 = CGCG 155-055 = PGC 33467
11 04 37.3 +28 13 40; LMi
V = 13.9; Size 1.0'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 55°
17.5" (3/25/95): very faint, fairly small, elongated 3:2 SW-NE, 0.8'x0.5', weak concentration. Located 13.7' NE of NGC 3512.
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3515 = St. 12-41 on 16 Mar 1882. He reduced an accurate position on 20 April and included it in his 12th discovery list, published the following year.
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11 06 47.5 +72 34 07; UMa
V = 11.7; Size 1.7'x1.3'; Surf Br = 12.5; PA = 45°
17.5" (3/28/92): moderately bright but small, slightly elongated SW-NE, sharp small bright core dominates, fairly small halo. A mag 14 star is 1.2' SE. Two mag 10 stars lie 2.3' NE and 4.1' W. This is a Seyfert galaxy with an large, active black hole.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3516 = H. II-336 = h816 on 3 Apr 1785 (sweep 390) and noted "pB, vS, iR." On 4 Nov 1831 (sweep382) John Herschel called this "a singular object. A burred star 11m diam 12"; very suddenly much brighter middle; a double stars follows."
NGC 3516 is a strong X-ray Seyfert galaxy and one of the 6 original galaxies studied by Seyfert in his seminal 1943 paper "Nuclear Emission in Spiral Nebulae".
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11 05 36.8 +56 31 30; UMa
V = 13.0; Size 1.0'x0.9'; Surf Br = 12.5; PA = 91°
17.5" (3/12/88): fairly faint, fairly small, round, diffuse edges, broad concentration.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3517 = H. II-884 = h817 on 8 Apr 1793 (sweep 1038). He noted "faint, small, round, brighter middle." On 9 Feb 1831 (sweep 323) John Herschel called it "eF; R; 12" diameter; very gradually little brighter middle." His position is accurate.
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NGC 3518 = NGC 3110 = NGC 3122 = MCG -01-26-014 = PGC 33442
10 04 02.0 -06 28 29; Sex
V = 12.7; Size 1.8'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 5°
See observing notes for NGC 3110. One hour error in RA in Stone's position.
Ormond Stone found NGC 3518 = LM 1-182 on 31 Dec 1885 with the 26" refractor at Leander McCormick Observatory and recorded "mag 15.0, 0.1', lE 110°, in same field with neb disc by Stephan." There is nothing near his position.
Harold Corwin examined his discovery sketch and found a double nebula with four stars nearby. Corwin found that Stone made a 1 hr error in RA (too large) and his sketch matches NGC 3110 = NGC 3122. This galaxy was discovered by WH (II-305 = NGC 3122), but he misidentified his offset star. Once all positions are corrected, NGC 3122 = NGC 3110 = NGC 3518 (in order of discovery). The RNGC and misidentify PGC 29361 as NGC 3518. See Corwin's notes for the full story.
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11 04 09 -61 22 30; Car
V = 7.7; Size 8'
14" (4/5/16 - Coonabarabran, 145x and 178x): roughly 80
stars resolved in an irregular 6' region (boundary pretty arbitrary), many of
these arranged in chains or curving streamers of stars. On the west side is the brightest mag
9.7 star (mag 12.5 companion at 8" = HJ 4400) with a linear chain of mag
13 stars just west (oriented SW-NE).
Another chain of mag 12-13 stars (oriented NW-SE) is on the northeast
side. A mag 7.4 star (
John Herschel discovered NGC 3519 = h3314 on 14 Mar 1834 and reported, "Chief star of a pretty rich cluster, class VII." His position match the unequal double star HJ 4400 within a small cluster.
According to Brian Skiff, Ru 93 appears to be a string of stars on the northeast side of the cluster or may simply be a duplicate of NGC 3519. In a visual observation with a C-8, Jenni Kay observed about two dozen stars in a single cluster of 5' diameter with two brighter stars at the southwest edge. RNGC classifies the number as nonexistent, though the group was confirmed as a star cluster by Bica and Bonatto in 2011A&A...530A..32B ("Star clusters or asterisms? 2MASS CMD and structural analyses of 15 challenging targets.")
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11 07 09.2 -18 01 25; Crt
V = 13.8; Size 1.0'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.8; PA = 165°
24" (2/22/14): at 260x appeared faint to fairly faint, fairly small, oval 4:3 WSW-ENE, 20"x15", fairly low surface brightness. An extremely low surface brightness halo was not seen. This is a close double system [9" between centers] but was not resolved at 260x. The NGC identification is uncertain due to a poor position.
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3520 = LM 2-431 in 1886
with the 26" refractor at Leander McCormick and reported "mag 15.3,
0.4' dia, irregularly round, gradually pretty much brighter middle, sev vF st
inv." Just 2' north of his
position is a 1' group of four stars (brightest two are mag 13 and 14.5) and
originally Harold Corwin identified this group as NGC 3520. He now feels a more likely match based
on the description is
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11 05 49.2 -00 02 02; Leo
V = 9.0; Size 11.0'x5.1'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 163°
14.5" (4/12/21): at 158x and 226x; very bright and large, elongated ~5:2 NNW-SSE, extends nearly 6.5'x2.5' with averted vision. Very strong and fairy sharp concentration with a prominent elongated core and an intense stellar nucleus. The western portion of the halo has a lower surface brightness and with careful viewing a dust lane creates a sharp light cut off along the preceding edge of the central region.
48" (3/1/19): at 488x; showpiece spiral with a prominent dust lane and an outer spiral arm! The galaxy appeared extremely bright, very large, elongated ~5:2 NNW-SSE, at least 8'x3.2', sharply concentrated with a very bright, elongated core. The core itself was sharply concentrated with a brilliant quasi-stellar nucleus! A high contrast, fairly wide dust lane runs in the direction of the major axis along the entire west side of the core! The principal spiral arm was easily visible emerging NNW from the NE side of the central region. This arm displayed a hard outer edge (high contrast) and curved sharply clockwise on the north end. The arm dimmed or lost contrast but could be traced to the west of the dust lane, extending south. The galaxy was slightly brighter at the south end (along the major axis), where the opposite arm curled east and north.
18" (5/14/07): very bright spiral with impressive structure, elongated at least 5:2 NNW-SSE, ~7.5'x3'. Contains a bright, elongated core highlighted by an intense, stellar nucleus. The halo is noticeably mottled at first glance and a low contrast dust lane runs NNW-SSE along the west side of the core. There is a strong impression of spiral structure with an arm attached on the east side that extends to the north and appears to curve towards the west in the outer halo. The halo appears more extensive or slightly brighter on the northern end. A more difficult arm appears to sweep to the south on the west side of the core.
17.5" (1/19/91): very bright, very large, elongated 5'x2' NNW-SSE. This is an impressive galaxy! Contains a well-defined small bright oval core NNW-SSE and a stellar nucleus. Appears mottled near the core and on the west side. Along the west side is a dust lane evident as a sharp light cut-off. The west side is somewhat fainter due to dust but extends beyond the dust lane.
8": fairly bright, fairly large, elongated, bright core. Located 33' E of a mag 6 star.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3521 = H. I-13 = h818 on 22 Feb 1784 (sweep 153) and recorded "a fine B nebula, with a bright star or nucleus in the middle; it sends out a milky ray towards the north, and another more faint towards the south, the extent of the whole, faint rays included, may be about 7 or 8'. On 13 Apr 1828 (sweep144) John Herschel described NGC 3521 as "vB; L; mE in PA 140° +/-, 4' l, 1' br; very small & very much brighter middle; a double star follows. The NGC position (measured by Auwers, d'Arrest, Peters) is accurate.
Birr Castle assistant R.J. Mitchell recorded on 29 Mar 1856, "The nucleus projects into the dark space along the p edge. Outside this dark space there is faint nebulosity, which I see joining the nebula at the north end."
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11 06 40.4 +20 05 08; Leo
V = 13.1; Size 1.2'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 117°
18" (5/31/03): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 5:3 WNW-ESE, 0.7'x0.4'. Fairly sharply concentrated with a brighter 15" round core.
Lewis Swift discovered NGC 3522 = Sw. 3-59 on 26 Apr 1883
and described "pF; vS; lE; in starless field." His RA was 18 seconds too small. This was one of his first two
discoveries (along with
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NGC 3523 = UGC 6105 = MCG +13-08-053 = CGCG 351-054 = KTG 34C = PGC 33367
11 03 06.3 +75 06 57; Dra
V = 12.9; Size 1.3'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.3
24" (5/25/14): at 280x appeared fairly faint or moderately bright, moderately large, irregularly round, 1' diameter, weak concentration to a slightly brighter core that seems offset center within the halo. Third in the KTG 34 triplet with NGC 3500 = UGC 6090 7' NW.
18" (3/30/05): fairly faint, moderately large, round, 1.2' diameter. Symmetrical appearance with a weak even concentration to the center but no defined core. NGC 3500 lies 7.2' NW.
17.5" (4/25/98): extremely faint, fairly small, round, 45" diameter, low even surface brightness. Collinear with two mag 11 stars 5' ESE and 9' ESE. Brightest in trio with NGC 3465 14.5' WNW and NGC 3500 7' NW. Observation severely hampered by poor transparency.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3523 = H. II-904 on 2 Apr
1801 (sweep 1096). He noted
"faint, pretty large, little brighter middle." This is one of 15 far northern galaxies
with large systematic errors due to a misidentification of the offset star and
the telescope misaligned off the meridian. A corrected position matching
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11 06 32.1 +11 23 08; Leo
V = 12.8; Size 1.6'x0.5'; Surf Br = 12.4; PA = 14°
17.5" (4/1/95): moderately bright, elongated 5:2 SSW-NNE, 1.5'x0.6'. Fairly sharp concentration with a well-defined 15" bright core and an occasional stellar nucleus. A mag 11.5 star lies 0.9' NNW and a mag 13 star 2.0' NNW of center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3524 = H. III-23 = h819 on 11 Mar 1784 (sweep 164) and recorded "vF, vS. I was not quite assured of it till I put on 240x. Very near it to the north are two smalls stars in a line with it." John Herschel made three observations, recording on 23 Mar 1830 (sweep 242), "vF; R; bM; has 2 stars exactly in a line with centre, on 11-12 m, the other 13-14 m."
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11 07 18.1 -19 28 19; Crt
V = 11.9; Size 2.6'x1.4'; Surf Br = 13.2
See observing notes for NGC 3528
Ormond Stone independently discovered NGC 3525 = LM 1-183 in 1886 and recorded "mag 12.0, 0.8' dia, gradually brighter middle to a nucleus." His rough (nearest min of RA) is ~1.0 tmin west of ESO 570-006 (matches in dec).
This galaxy was discovered by WH on 8 Mar 1790 and recorded as III-824 (later GC 2281 = NGC 3497). His position is within 2' (typical error) of ESO 570-006, but the position in the GC, which was copied into the NGC, is 6 min too far west (reduction or copying error). JH and Lewis Swift also independently discovered the same galaxy, so there are four aliases in the NGC/IC! Namely, NGC 3497 = NGC 3528 = NGC 3525 = IC 2624. NGC 3528 is the primary designation in modern catalogues. See notes on NGC 3497 for more on the story.
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11 06 56.8 +07 10 27; Leo
V = 13.2; Size 1.9'x0.4'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 55°
17.5" (4/1/95): fairly faint, nearly edge-on 5:1 SW-NE,
2.0'x0.4', very weak concentration.
A mag 13 star is just off the SW end 1.3' from center. Located 12' ENE of mag 8.3
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3526 = m 215 on 25 Mar 1865 and noted "eF, perhaps 2' long, vm E ray, pos about 50°." His position and description matches UGC 6167.
Edward Holden found this galaxy again on 27 Apr 1881 with
the 15.6-inch refractor at the Washburn Observatory in Wisconsin, and assumed
it was new. His description for
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11 07 18.2 +28 31 39; UMa
V = 13.7; Size 1.0'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.5
13.1" (3/24/84): very faint, very small, round, smooth
surface brightness. A mag 12 star
is 2.1' WNW. Outlying member of the
William Herschel discovered NGC 3527 = H. III-350 = h820 on 11 Apr 1785 (sweep 396) and noted "vF, S." John Herschel made four observations and mentioned the mag 10-11 star that is 1' preceding.
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NGC 3528 = NGC 3525 = NGC 3497 = IC 2624 = ESO 570-006 = MCG -03-28-037 = PGC 33667
11 07 18.1 -19 28 17; Crt
V = 11.9; Size 2.6'x1.4'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 59°
17.5" (5/4/02): moderately bright, fairly large contains a bright core ~45" diameter increasing to a stellar nucleus. Surrounding the core is a fairly large ill-defined halo elongated 3:2 SW-NE, ~2.5'x1.5' with a low surface brightness. A couple of faint stars are superimposed on the south side. This galaxy may hold the record for the most NGC/IC aliases as NGC 3528 = NGC 3525 = NGC 3497 = IC 2624. Forms a pair with NGC 3529 5' S.
John Herschel independently discovered NGC 3528 = h3316 on 22 Mar 1835 and recorded "F; S; R; pretty suddenly little brighter middle; 20". The preceding of 2 [with NGC 3529]." His position is just 6 tsec west of ESO 570-006 = MCG -03-28-037.
WH discovered this galaxy on 8 Mar 1790 (sweep 936) and recorded it as H. III-824 (later GC 2281 and NGC 3497). His position is within 2' (typical error) of ESO 570-006, but the position in the GC, which was copied into the NGC, is 6 min too far west (reduction or copying error). Ormond Stone and Lewis Swift also independently discovered the same galaxy, so there are four aliases in the NGC/IC! Namely, NGC 3497 = NGC 3528 = NGC 3525 = IC 2624. NGC 3528 is the primary designation in modern catalogues, despite the earlier discovery of NGC 3497. See notes on NGC 3497 for more on the identities.
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NGC 3529 = IC 2625 = ESO 570-007 = MCG -03-28-038 = PGC 33671
11 07 19.1 -19 33 20; Crt
V = 14.2; Size 1.4'x1.1'; Surf Br = 14.5; PA = 55°
17.5" (5/4/02): fairly faint, fairly small, slightly elongated with very faint extensions suspected at moments, ~45"x35", very weak concentration. Forms a pair with NGC 3528 = NGC 3525 = NGC 3497 just 5' N.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3529 = h3317 on 22 Mar 1835 and
logged "eF; S; R; very little brighter middle; 15". The following of 2 [with NGC
3528]." His position is just
0.1 tmin west of
Lewis Swift independently discovered this galaxy on 11 Apr
1898 and recorded Sw. 11-119 (later
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11 08 40.4 +57 13 48; UMa
V = 13.8; Size 0.6'x0.3'; Surf Br = 11.7; PA = 99°
17.5" (3/12/88): fairly faint, very small, elongated ~E-W, bright core, probable stellar nucleus.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3530 = H. III-915 = h821 on 8 Apr 1793 (sweep 1038). He noted "very faint, small." His position is accurate to within 1'. John Herschl logged on 9 Feb 1831 (sweep 323), "eF; S; R; pretty gradually brighter middle; 10" [diameter]."
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NGC 3531 = NGC 3526 = UGC 6167 = MCG +01-28-039 = CGCG 038-129 = PGC 33635
11 06 56.3 +07 10 23; Leo
See observing notes for NGC 3526.
Edward Holden found NGC 3531 on 27 Apr 1881 with the 15.6-inch refractor at the Washburn Observatory in Wisconsin. His description from a second observation on 20 Apr 1882 reads "Nebula is elongated 50° +/-, and at its sp end is a star 11m. * 11 at sp end" He added the comment "This may be Marth 215 (GC 5546 = NGC 3526). If so, Marth's position appears to be a wrong. " It was Holden who was wrong, though -- his position is 30' too far south. Rudolph Spitaler equated the two identities NGC 3526 = NGC 3531 (IC 1 Notes section). See Harold Corwin's NGC identification notes.
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NGC 3532 = ESO 128-31 = Cr 238 = Pin Cushion Cluster = Wishing Well Cluster = Football Cluster
11 05 48 -58 46 12; Car
V = 3.0; Size 55'
13.1" (2/18/04 - Costa Rica): this amazing naked-eye
cluster packs several hundred stars, filling the 20mm Nagler field (74x and 65'
field of view) with wall-to-wall stars in a 55'x35' region! The central region is condensed and
quite rich with several dense knots consisting of pairs, triples, chains, etc. The brighter stars are extended ~E-W
and includes 6th magnitude K2-type star (
The cluster is quite prominent naked-eye as a 45' cloud just 3° ENE of Eta Carina in the NE corner of the rich Carina starcloud and was densely packed with dozens of resolved stars in the 9x50mm finder. Mag 3.9 V382 Carinae (a Delta Cepheid variable not considered a cluster member) is just off the SE side.
18" (7/7/02 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): This spectacular naked-eye and binocular cluster (3° ENE of Eta Carina) filled the entire 51' field of the 27mm Panoptic (76x) with several hundred stars mag 7 and fainter resolved. The cluster is unusually elongated ~E-W, perhaps 55'x30' and widening on the following side. The stars are irregularly distributed with many in pairs, small groups, chains and loops. A group of about a dozen stars forms a perfect "S" asterism. Interestingly, there is a lack of dense knots although the entire central region is rich. Many of the stars appear to have a blue or yellowish tint. This is one of the very top open clusters in the sky although it is probably best in a wider field view.
10x30mm Canon IS (3/28/19 - Tasmania): absolutely stunning cluster - very prominent naked-eye, rivals nearby Eta Carina though smaller. A couple of dozen stars were resolved in 10x30mm binoculars including a few very bright stars. Some additional faint stars scintillated in and out of view.
Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille discovered NGC 3532 = Lac II-10 = D 323 = h3315 in 1751-1752. Using a 1/2-inch telescope at 8x during his expedition to the Cape of Good Hope, he described a "prodigious number of faint stars forming a semi-circle of 20 to 25 minutes diameter."
James Dunlop observed the cluster 3 times, including 27 Apr 1826, his first night recording clusters and nebulae. He described "a very large cluster of stars about the 9th magnitude, with a red star of the 7-8th magnitude, north following the centre of the cluster. Elliptical figure: the stars are pretty regularly scattered."
John Herschel was very impressed with the cluster, including
it in a list of 'greatest hits': "Among the nebulae which occur from 9h to
12h we have .. the beautiful planetary nebula [NGC 2867], a perfect planet in
appearance, with an attendant satellite; the falcated nebula [NGC 3199]; Eta
Argus with its nebula; the superb cluster [NGC 3532]; the blue [Herschel's
italics] planetary nebula [
His first sweep on 31 Mar 1834 reported "Chief star of a very large, round, loosely scattered cluster of stars 8..12th magnitude, which fills 2 or 3 fields. A fine bright object." His next observation recorded "The chief star of a superb cluster, which has several elegant double stars, and many orange-coloured ones." On 5 Feb 1835 (sweep 543, the night described in his diary as "most superb" and "having attained the sublime of Astronomy - a sort of ne plus ultra") he wrote,"A glorious cluster of immense magnitude, being at least 2 fields in extent every way. The stars are 8, 9, 10 and 11 mag, but chiefly 10th magnitude, of which there must be at least 200. It is the most brilliant object of the kind I have ever seen."
The HST "first light" image in May 1990, was of a
very small field within NGC 3532, includng
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11 07 07.5 -37 10 22; Cen
V = 12.9; Size 2.8'x0.6'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 65°
13.1" (2/17/04 - Costa Rica): fairly faint, moderately large, elongated 5:2 or 3:1 WSW-ENE, low fairly even surface brightness with just a weak, broad concentration. A mag 14 star is just north of the ENE tip. First in the NGC 3557 group (40' NW of NGC 3557).
John Herschel discovered NGC 3533 = h3318 on 22 Apr 1835 and
simply noted "eeF; attached to a vS star." His position is 14 sec of RA east of
Gerard de Vaucouleurs labeled this galaxy as
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11 08 55.6 +26 36 38; Leo
V = 14.1; Size 1.3'x0.4'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 88°
24" (4/20/14): faint to fairly faint, fairly small,
elongated 2:1 E-W, 0.8'x0.4', low even surface brightness. Largest in a trio (
17.5" (4/22/95): very faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1 E-W, 1.0'x0.5', broad weak concentration. A mag 9.5 star is 4.3' NW. This is a double system with separation 0.9' between centers (unresolved) and forms a triplet with MCG +05-26-064 2.9' ENE.
Otto Struve discovered NGC 3534 on 18 Mar 1869 with the
15-inch Merz refractor at the Pulkovo Observatory in St. Petersburg. While
searching for Comet Winnecke (7P/Pons-Winnecke) he recorded a "Very faint
nebua of uniform light, located 3' southeast (PA 145°) from a mag 9 star. His position is 12 sec of RA west of
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11 08 34.0 +04 49 55; Leo
V = 13.4; Size 1.1'x0.5'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 178°
17.5" (3/22/96): faint, small, round, 30" diameter, brighter core. A mag 15 star is just 43" E of center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3535 = H. III-111 = h823 on
18 Apr 1784 (sweep 201) and recorded "vF, vS, r, 240x confirmed
it." There is nothing at his
position, but 33 seconds of RA west and 1.5' north is
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11 08 51.2 +28 28 32; UMa
V = 13.7; Size 1.1'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 155°
17.5" (4/22/95): very faint, round, 40" diameter,
low even surface brightness. The
20' field has only a half dozen stars.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3536 = h822 on 24 Dec 1827 (sweep 115) and noted "F; S; R; bM; 15 to 20" dia." His declination was 1.2' too small.
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11 08 26.6 -10 15 25; Crt
V = 12.8; Size 1.5'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.4
17.5" (5/4/02): fairly faint, fairly small, irregularly
round, ~1.0'x0.8', moderate surface brightness, weak concentration to an
irregular nucleus. This is a
double system with a superimposed companion on the south side. Located 8' W of
mag 8.7
Wilhelm Tempel discovered NGC 3537 = T. 1-30 = T. 5-8 on 7
Feb 1878. He resolved and
accurately measured the two components of this double galaxy (
Andrew Ainslie Common made a rediscovery in 1880 and described object #13 in his discovery list as "2 stars inv in haze, Pos. 160 deg." RNGC and MCG both misidentify MCG -02-29-003 as NGC 3537. See Corwin's notes.
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11 11 33.1 +75 34 15; Dra
Size 9"
= **, Corwin. = Not found, RNGC.
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3538 on 15 Sep 1866 and noted "vF, pL, *17 near." Just 20" north of his single position is a pair of mag 14.9/15.1 stars at 9" separation oriented NW-SE at this position.
In the 1911 Monthly Notices correction paper on William Herschel's sweep of 2 Apr 1801, NGC 3538 was noted (based on a Greenwich plate) as "Doubtful. Appears as a double star on the photographs. P 310°, d 12", mags 17, 17." Based on Heidelberg plates, Reinmuth noted "vS, = neb *14.0, *16 np 0.1', *14.5 f 0.7'. This description applies to the brighter component of the double star, which is cleanly resolved on the DSS. RNGC classifies the number as nonexistent. See Corwin's notes.
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NGC 3539 = MCG +05-26-065 = CGCG 155-077 = PGC 33799
11 09 08.9 +28 40 20; UMa
V = 14.4; Size 1.2'x0.25'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 3°
17.5" (4/22/95): very faint, fairly small, very elongated 3:1 N-S, 0.6'x0.2'. Contains a small bright core with very faint extensions. NGC 3536 lies 12.3' SSW. Member of AGC 1185.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3539 = h825 on 13 Apr 1831 (sweep 343) and simply noted "eF". Based on a plate taken with the 24-inch Yerkes reflector, Hubble described NGC 3539 as "F, E 5°, 60"x20"." (1917 PhD thesis).
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11 09 16.1 +36 01 15; UMa
V = 13.3; Size 1.4'x1.2'; Surf Br = 13.7
17.5" (4/22/95): fairly faint, fairly small, round,
small bright core. Located 8' E of
mag 7.3
John Herschel discovered NGC 3540 = h824 on 11 Mar 1831
(sweep 331) and recorded, "pF; R; pretty suddenly brighter middle;
20"; a * 7m preceding, distance 7' - 8'." His position and description matches
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11 08 32.2 -10 29 30; Crt
V = 14.5; Size 1.3'x1.2'; Surf Br = 14.8
17.5" (5/4/02): very faint, fairly small, round, 0.5'
diameter. Has a much lower surface
brightenss than NGC 3537 14' N.
The NGC identification is very uncertain due to an imprecise position by
Common and NGC 3541 may apply to
Andrew Ainslie Common discovered NGC 3541 with his 36-inch silvered-glass reflector in 1880 and described a "Nebulous star, B centre." His rough discovery position is 12' north of MCG -02-29-004 and 15' south of MCG -02-29-003. Both of these galaxies are possible candidates. Harold Corwin feels that based on Common's description, MCG -02-29-003 = PGC 33759 is more likely.
Wolfgang Steinicke credits Wilhelm Tempel with the discovery on 7 Feb 1878, but the position and description in list I-31 appears to apply to a couple of very faint stars.
MCG -02-29-003 is misidentified as NGC 3537 in MCG and RNGC (see notes for NGC 3537). RNGC misclassifies NGC 3541 as nonexistent. See Corwin's notes.
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11 09 55.5 +36 56 47; UMa
V = 14.1; Size 0.8'x0.3'; Surf Br = 12.5; PA = 45°
17.5" (3/12/94): faint, small, elongated 2:1 SW-NE, low
surface brightness, no concentration.
Forms a trio with
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3542 = St. 13-60, along with
NGC 3545, on 15 Mar 1882. His
published position was reduced on 26 Mar 1884 and matches
******************************
11 10 56.5 +61 20 49; UMa
V = 14.2; Size 1.3'x0.2'; Surf Br = 12.5; PA = 8°
17.5" (3/19/88): faint, moderately large, edge-on 5:1 ~N-S. A wide pair of mag 14 stars at 51" separation lie 2' NE.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3543 = H. III-920 = h826 on
9 Apr 1793 (sweep 1039) and noted "eF, vS, E nearly in the meridian
[north-south]." Caroline's
reduced position is 3.5' southwest of
******************************
11 11 30.3 -18 17 23; Crt
See observing notes for
Ormond Stone found NGC 3544 = LM 1-184 on 7 Jan 1886 at Leander McCormick Observatory. There is nothing at his rough position (nearest minute of RA) but 2 minutes of RA east (same dec) is NGC 3571 = ESO 570-011 and Stone's position angle (95°) and dimensions (2.5'x0.4') are a perfect match with NGC 3571.
This galaxy was discovered by William Herschel on 8 Mar 1790 and catalogued as II-819 (later NGC 3571). So, NGC 3544 = NGC 3571. Harold Knox-Shaw noted the equivalence in 1915, based on photographs taken at the Helwan Observatory in 1912-14 with the 30" Reynolds reflector. The primary designation should be NGC 3571, although RC3 labels this galaxy NGC 3544. See Corwin's notes.
******************************
NGC 3545 = VV 182 = MCG +06-25-016 = MCG +06-25-017 = CGCG 185-015 = PGC 33893
11 10 12.3 +36 57 53; UMa
V = 13.8; Size 0.7'x0.3'
17.5" (3/12/94): faint, small, round, 40" diameter, slight even concentration. Forms a trio with NGC 3542 3.5' WSW and MCG +06-25-014 4.7' NW. MCG +06-25-015 lies 10.5' NNW. This is a double system with components separated by just 13" (oriented SW-NE).
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3545 = St. 13-61, along with NGC 3542, on 15 Mar 1882. His published position was reduced on 26 Mar 1884 and matches this double system. The individual components appear to be at most 0.3'x0.3' and in contact SW-NE.
******************************
11 09 46.8 -13 22 50; Crt
V = 13.3; Size 1.5'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 100°
17.5" (5/4/02): faint, very small, slightly elongated, 25"x 20", stellar nucleus. Apparently I picked up the core region only as the arms have a much lower surface brightness.
Frank Muller discovered NGC 3546 = LM 2-432 in 1886 with the 26" refractor at the Leander McCormick Observatory and noted "* 12m in PA 40° at 2.1'." His position is 0.3' of RA west of MCG -02-29-007 = PGC 33846 and his description matches.
******************************
11 09 55.9 +10 43 14; Leo
V = 12.8; Size 1.9'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 7°
17.5" (3/28/87): fairly faint, moderately large, elongated N-S, bright core. Possible member of the Leo group.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3547 = H. II-42 = h828 on 11 Mar 1784 (sweep 164) and recorded "F, S. Does not require 240x to see it." On 18 Jan 1828 (sweep 120), John Herschel wrote "F; S; lE; of nearly uniform brightness."
******************************
NGC 3548 = NGC 3540 = UGC 6196 = MCG +06-25-011 = CGCG 185-011 = PGC 33806
11 09 16.1 +36 01 15; UMa
See observing notes for NGC 3540.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3548 = h827 on 7 Feb 1832 (sweep 401) and noted "eF; R; a * 8m precedes." There is nothing at his position buyt 1.0 min of RA west is NGC 3540, which he discovered the previous year on 11 Mar 1831, and the two descriptions are very similar. RNGC equates NGC 3548 with NGC 3540. See Harold Corwin's NGC identification notes for more on this number.
******************************
11 10 56.8 +53 23 17; UMa
V = 12.1; Size 3.2'x1.2'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 38°
17.5" (4/22/95): fairly bright, moderately large, elongated 5:2 SW-NE, 2.6'x1.0', broad concentration. The ends fade into the background but do not taper giving a boxy impression. Three collinear mag 13.5 stars nearly parallel the galaxy off the SE side. The nearest is 1.7' ESE of center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3549 = H. I-220 on 12 Apr
1789 (sweep 919). He recorded "considerably bright, elongated 70° np to
sf, 3 or 4' long, about 2' broad."
His position is within 1.5' (typical error) of
A sketch made on 29 Feb 1868 at Birr Castle shows a curving shape with the comments "Lord R. remarks; - south end much spread out. We were almost certain of the branches given in diagram, n one most decided."
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11 10 38.5 +28 46 04; UMa
V = 13.3; Size 1.1'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.2
13.1" (3/24/84): brightest in the AGC 1185
cluster. Faint, small, round. A mag 11 star is 1.5' E and a mag 12
star 1.5' SSW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3550 = H. III-351 = h829, along with NGC 3552, on 11 Apr 1785 (sweep 396). He recorded "Two, both vF and vS. The most south [NGC 3552] is the faintest and but for the other [NGC 3552] could not have been observed."
John Herschel made 6 disparate descriptions in terms of brightness - ranging from eF to B - and in the notes to the General Catalogue suggested this was possibly a variable nebula.
******************************
11 09 41.2 +21 44 25; Leo
V = 14.9; Size 0.35'x0.35'
17.5" (4/15/99): extremely faint, very small, possibly
elongated but difficult to confirm, 20" in diameter. Could not resolve this double system
with certainty (or only viewed the brighter component). Located 1.4' SSW of
17.5" (3/12/94): very faint, very small, round, fairly
low even surface brightness. Forms
a close pair with NGC 3555 1.4' NNE.
This is a double system [29" between centers] which was not
resolved or only one component visible.
Member of
Lewis Swift discovered NGC 3551 = Sw. 1-10, along with NGC
3555, on 24 Aug 1883. His brief
description reads, "eeF; vS; R; diff; s of 2." His RA is 50 seconds east of CGCG
125-032 (close pair) but similar in declination. His relative separation with NGC 3555 is 10 sec of RA and
0.5' north. This suggests NGC 3555
= UGC 6203 (brightest in the cluster), though the actual RA difference is 3.2
tsec of RA.
As an alternative identification, Corwin suggests that NGC 3551 = UGC 6203 and NGC 3555 = CGCG 125-034, but the declination separation of 3' is much larger than Swift's 0.5'. I feel this solution is less likely.
******************************
NGC 3552 = MCG +05-27-004 = CGCG 155-085nf = CGCG 156-006nf = PGC 33932
11 10 42.9 +28 41 35; UMa
V = 14.1; Size 0.6'x0.5'; Surf Br = 13.1
13.1" (3/24/84): very faint glow that is slightly
brighter than
William Herschel discovered NGC 3552 = H. III-352 = h832,
along with NGC 3550, on 11 Apr 1785 (sweep 396). He recorded them together as
"Two, both vF and vS. The
most south [NGC 3552] is the faintest and but for the other could not have been
observed." John Herschel made
3 observations, describing this object on sweep 65 as "so excessively
faint as hardly to be discerned on long attention. The second of a group of 3 [with
Hermann Kobold measured micrometric positions of the cluster in 1902 with the 18-inch refractor at Strasbourg, but nothing is at his position for NGC 3552, so he likely misidentified the offset star. Also see notes on NGC 3553.
******************************
NGC 3553 = MCG +05-27-004 = CGCG 155-085sw = CGCG 156-006sw = LEDA 1842970
11 10 40.3 +28 41 08; UMa
V = 15.3; Size 0.4'x0.3'; Surf Br = 12.7
13.1" (3/24/84): very faint, extremely small. Located very close SW of NGC 3552 (44" between centers). The pair is just resolved at 220x. Located in the core of rich cluster AGC 1185. A faint star (not recorded) is at the south edge -- perhaps I noticed the star or a combination of the star and the galaxy?
Guillaume Bigourdan discovered NGC 3553 = Big. 45 on 13 Mar
1885 and recorded "20" diam; forms a double nebula with GC 2320 [NGC
3552]." His position, though,
matches NGC 3552, as he assumed the fainter southwestern galaxy was William
Herschel's III-352, and the brighter northeastern one was new. As a result, the positions in the NGC
for NGC 3552 and NGC 3553 both apply to the brighter northeastern galaxy. Since Bigourdan clearly discovered the
southwestern galaxy (
******************************
11 10 47.9 +28 39 36; UMa
V = 14.3; Size 0.7'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.7; PA = 57°
13.1" (3/24/84): extremely faint and small. Located in the core of AGC 1185 close SSE of the NGC 3552/NGC 3553 pair. Appears just non-stellar and near the visual threshold.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3554 = h833 on 24 Dec 1827 (sweep 115) and noted "F; R; bM; not vS; PD mistaken 10'; corrected." His declination was 1.5' too large.
******************************
NGC 3555 = UGC 6203 = MCG +04-26-035 = CGCG 125-033 = Holm 230a = PGC 33836
11 09 44.4 +21 45 32; Leo
V = 12.8; Size 1.8'x1.7'; Surf Br = 14.0; PA = 30°
17.5" (4/15/99): brightest of trio with CGCG 125-032 (=
NGC 3551) 1.4' SSW and
17.5" (3/12/94): faint, fairly small, round, 1.0'
diameter, weak even concentration to brighter core and very small nucleus. A trio of mag 9 stars are in the field
8'-9' S including mag 8.9
Lewis Swift discovered NGC 3555 = Sw. 1-11, along with NGC
3551 = Sw. 1-10, on 24 Aug 1883.
There is nothing at his position, but exactly 1.0 min west is
******************************
11 11 31.8 +55 40 14; UMa
V = 10.0; Size 8.7'x2.2'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 80°
48" (5/12/12 and 4/29/22): extremely bright and large,
very elongated at least 4:1 WSW-ESE, ~8'x2'.
18" (5/14/07): very bright, very large, elongated 4:1
WSW-ENE, ~8'x2'. This striking
galaxy has a very mottled, patchy appearance with the main body appearing
twisted or distorted. A few
brighter patches or knots are visible along the major axis with a prominent
knot along the west side. The core
region is streaked with dust. The
brightest portions of the two extensions have slightly different orientations
or central axes! The galaxy bulges
out a bit on the east end and the galaxy appears to bend a bit towards the
north on the west end adding to the asymmetry. A couple of faint stars are superimposed on the eastern
extension and close to the center is a prominent mag 12.5 star masquerading as
a bright, stellar nucleus. The Owl
Nebula,
17.5" (2/25/84 and 2/28/87): very bright, very large, edge-on 4:1 WSW-ENE, 8.0'x2.0'. A mag 12 star is superimposed just west of center (V = 12.5) appearing similar to a bright stellar nucleus. Two fainter stars are also superimposed east of the core. A bright knot is visible west of the core (1.3' W of the star) and the region near the core appears dusty. A mag 12 star is just south of the west end, 4.9' from the center.
17.5" (3/12/88): very bright, very large, a bright star is superimposed near the center, knot visible west of the core.
13.1" (2/25/84): fairly bright, very elongated, stellar nucleus.
Pierre Méchain discovered M108 = NGC 3556 = V-46 = h831 on 16 Feb 1781 with a 3-inch refractor. Messier measured an accurate position and added it by hand to his personal copy of the catalogue, but a later edition was never published.
William Herschel independently discovered M108 on 17 Apr 1789 (sweep 922) with a second observation a week later (sweep 925), unaware of the earlier discovery. He recorded H. V. 46 as "very bright, 10' long and 2' broad, resolvable. An unconnected pretty bright star in the middle." His sketch was included in the 1814 PT paper (fig. 1) as an example of "stars in remarkable situations with regard to nebulae." John Herschel made a single observation on 10 Feb 1831 (sweep 324) and wrote, "B; vL; p b r; vmE; pos 79°. Has a distinct star in centre and 1 or 2 vS stars elsewhere."
M108 was observed on at least 7 occasions at Birr Castle, first on 13 Apr 1850. It was described variously as "twisted", "mottled", "patched and irregular", "knots". William Herschel was credited with the discovery in the NGC.
******************************
NGC 3557 = ESO 377-016 = MCG -06-25-005 = AM 1107-371 = LGG 229-003 = PGC 33871
11 09 57.6 -37 32 21; Cen
V = 10.4; Size 4.1'x3.0'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 30°
13.1" (2/17/04 - Costa Rica): fairly bright, fairly
large, elongated 3:2 SSW-NNE, 2.5'x1.5'.
Sharply concentrated with a prominent 40" core. With averted vision the diffuse outer
halo extends to 3'x2' in size. A
mag 10.5 star lies 3.3' SE.
Brightest in a group (Klemola 18) including
John Herschel discovered NGC 3557 = h3319 on 21 Apr 1835 and
noted "pB; S; R; bM."
His position (2 observations) matches
******************************
11 10 55.9 +28 32 37; UMa
V = 13.7; Size 0.9'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.1
13.1" (3/24/84): this is the second brightest galaxy in the rich cluster AGC 1185. Faint, very small, round. There is a string of four faint stars preceding.
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3558 on 15 Apr 1866 and viewed at 123x, 148x and 226x. His declination was 1.3' too large.
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11 10 45.2 +12 00 58; Leo
V = 12.7; Size 1.3'x0.9'; Surf Br = 12.7; PA = 55°
17.5" (5/4/02): fairly faint, moderately large,
elongated 3:2 SW-NE, 1.2'x0.8', fairly low surface brightness, brighter
core.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3559 = H. III-79 on 12 Apr
1784 (sweep 188) and noted "eF, not L, lE, r." His position (Caroline's reduction)
is 6' too far south. Heinrich d'Arrest measured an accurate
position (twice) and noted the 6' error in WH's position.
******************************
NGC 3560 = NGC 3559 = UGC 6217 = MCG +02-29-008 = CGCG 067-025
11 10 45.2 +12 00 58; Leo
See observing notes for NGC 3559.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3560 = h834 on 6 Apr 1831 (sweep 340) and recorded "F; R; gradually brighter in the middle; 20" (conspicuous). The PD of the working list [for H. III-79] is 6' out, owing to which I have often looked for it in vain." Although he was correct about the error in the polar distance of H. III-79, Herschel's polar distance was off by 50'.
Ignoring his previous equivalence with his father's H. III-79 (NGC 3559), Herschel gave h834 a separate GC designation (2324) at his erroneous position. Dreyer followed JH, and added the duplicate designation NGC 3560. Harold Corwin (private correspondence on 10 Aug 1995) identifies NGC 3560 = h834 = H. III 79 = NGC 3559 as Herschel originally stated. See Corwin's notes for full discussion.
******************************
NGC 3561 = Arp 105 NED2 = VV 237a = UGC 6224a = MCG +05-27-010 = CGCG 155-090 NED2 = CGCG 156-011 NED2 = PGC 33991
11 11 13.3 +28 41 46; UMa
V = 13.7; Size 0.7'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.0
48" (5/12/12): bright, fairly small, round, 0.6'
diameter, small bright core. Forms
a close pair with
At 488x, a very low surface extension or plume reaches
30" S. The dwarf galaxy
"Ambartsumian's Knot" was occasionally visible near its southern end
as an extremely faint stellar spot.
A number of galaxies within AGC 1185 are nearby including
MCG +05-27-012, 1.6' SE of NGC 3561, is fairly faint, fairly
small, elongated 3:2 SSW-NNE, 0.3'x0.2'.
13.1" (3/24/84): very faint, very diffuse spot with averted. This member of AGC 1185 is slightly larger than most members.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3561 = h835 on 30 Mar 1827 (sweep 65) and simply noted "vF. The last of a group of 4 [with NGC 3550, 3552 and 3554]." The next night he called it "F; pL; 8' dist from another [NGC 3550] and 30° south-following it." He likely picked up the brighter southern component of this multiple system.
RC2 lists the components as NGC 3561A = MCG +05-27-011
(northern) and
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11 12 58.7 +72 52 45; Dra
V = 12.2; Size 1.7'x1.3'; PA = 165°
17.5" (3/28/92): fairly faint, small, slightly elongated ~E-W, gradually brighter halo, small bright core. A mag 14.5 star is 1.2' NNE.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3562 = H. II-337 = h830 on 3 Apr 1785 (sweep 390) and noted "pF, pS, bM." John Herschel recorded on 4 Nov 1831 (sweep 382), "pF; lE; gradually brighter in the middle; 20"; a * 15m dist 70"; pos from neb 22.1°."
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11 11 25.3 +26 57 49; Leo
V = 13.7; Size 0.9'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 15°
18" (5/31/03): faint, very small, round, 0.4'
diameter. This is a double galaxy
and a very small companion was just resolved on the west edge.
Otto Struve discovered NGC 3563 on 18 Mar 1869 with the 15-inch
Merz refractor at the Pulkovo Observatory in St. Petersburg. He found this galaxy while searching
for Comet Winnecke (7P/Pons-Winnecke) and noted it was 2' south of a mag 8 star
in PA 169°. RC 3 and the first
edition of the Deep Sky Field Guide label this galaxy
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NGC 3564 = ESO 377-018 = MCG -06-25-006 = AM 1108-371 = LGG 229-004 = PGC 33923
11 10 36.4 -37 32 51; Cen
V = 12.1; Size 2.1'x0.4'; Surf Br = 12.3; PA = 15°
13.1" (2/17/04 - Costa Rica): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 5:2 SSW-NNE, 1.4'x0.6', weak concentration and tapers at the ends (spindle-shaped). Follows NGC 3557 by 7.7' in a group (Klemola 18) and bracketed by two mag 13 stars 2' NW and 2' SE.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3564 = h3320 on 21 Apr 1835 and
logged "F; S; R; bM. On the
same parallel with [NGC 3557]."
His position matches
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11 07 47.8 -20 01 18; Crt
V = 14.3; Size 0.7'x0.5'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 126°
18" (3/17/07): very faint, very small, slightly
elongated, 20"x15".
Located 13' WNW a mag 8.3
Ormond Stone discovered NGC 3565 = LM 1-185, along with NGC 3566, in 1886 with the 26" refractor at Leander McCormick Observatory. Both objects were given the same rough position (nearest min of RA and marked as +/-). There is nothing near his position.
ESO, RC3 and PGC identify NGC 3565 = NGC 3566 = ESO 570-008, an interacting double galaxy roughly 2.5 min of RA east of Stone's position (typical error in the first discovery list). On the POSS, the images of these two small galaxies are merged and difficult to resolve. So, it's possible that Stone observed this galaxy and a nearby faint star for his second object. RNGC classifies NGC 3565 and 3566 as nonexistent. Also, see my RNGC Corrections #6 and Harold Corwin's NGC identification notes.
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NGC 3566 = NGC 3565: = ESO 570-008 = PGC 33701
11 07 47.8 -20 01 20; Crt
V = 14.3; Size 0.7'x0.5'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 126°
See observing notes for NGC 3565.
Ormond Stone discovered NGC 3566 = LM 1-186, along with NGC 3565, in 1886 with the 26" refractor at Leander McCormick Observatory. See NGC 3565.
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11 11 18.7 +05 50 10; Leo
V = 13.3; Size 0.9'x0.7'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 132°
18" (3/5/05): fairly faint, round, contains a
relatively bright stellar or quasi-stellar nucleus surrounded by a round, faint
halo. Forms a double system with
William Herschel discovered NGC 3567 = H. III-89 = h836 on
13 Apr 1784 (sweep 191) and logged "eF. I am a little doubtful of the reality. His position is 30 seconds of RA west
and 3' north of
******************************
NGC 3568 = ESO 377-020 = MCG -06-25-009 = LGG 229-008 = PGC 33952
11 10 48.5 -37 26 52; Cen
V = 12.3; Size 2.5'x0.8'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 7°
13.1" (2/17/04 - Costa Rica): fairly faint, very elongated 7:2 N-S, 1.5'x0.4', fairly low even surface brightness. Cradled by a trio of mag 10-11 stars just following (the 2 stars off the north and south ends are parallel to the major axis). NGC 3564 lies 6.7' SSW and NGC 3557, the brightest member of the Klemola 18 group, is 11.5' SSW.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3568 = h3321 on 21 Apr 1835 and
recorded "eF; pL; involving several stars. The last of 3 [with with NGC 3557 and 3564]. The next night he noted "F; R;
near 3 bright stars.", apparently recognizing the stars were not involved
with the object. His position is 1' south of
******************************
11 12 08.1 +35 27 08; UMa
V = 13.3; Size 1.1'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.3
18" (5/31/03): faint, small, round, 0.5' diameter, very weak concentration with no visible core.
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3569 on 27 Apr 1864 and mentioned a mag 12 star to the west-northwest by 3.5'. Édouard Stephan observed the galaxy on 14 Mar 1874, as well as 30 Mar 1886.
In 1899 Hermann Kobold discovered a faint companion (called
Kobold 14) 1.8' SW of NGC 3569 with the 18-inch refractor at Strasbourg. The discovery was published, though, in
1909 - too late for inclusion in the
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11 12 03.3 +27 35 23; Leo
V = 13.5; Size 1.0'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.4
17.5" (4/14/01): fairly faint, small, round, 30" diameter. Forms a pair with NGC 3574 at 2.9' NE. Brightest in a faint group.
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3570 = St. 9-23, along with
In Emmanuel Esmiol re-reduction of Stephan's positions (published in 1916), removed NGC 3570 and replaced it with an anonymous galaxy as if the NGC position was in error. But his new position matches the NGC position!
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NGC 3571 = NGC 3544 = ESO 570-011 = MCG -03-29-001 = PGC 34028
11 11 30.3 -18 17 23; Crt
V = 12.1; Size 3.0'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 94°
17.5" (1/31/87): fairly faint, moderately large. Contains a small bright core surrounded by a faint halo elongated 2:1 ~E-W. Located 19' NW of mag 6.1 Psi Crateris.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3571 = H. II-819 on 8 Mar
1790 (sweep 936) and reported "pF, pL, bM, iF." His position matches
Ormond Stone independently discovered the galaxy on 7 Jan 1886 at the Leander-McCormick Observatory. His rough position (nearest min of RA) for NGC 3544 = LM 1-184 is two tmin too far west, but his description matches. So, NGC 3571 = NGC 3544. The primary designation should be NGC 3571, although RC3 labels this galaxy NGC 3544.
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11 10 19 -60 14 54; Car
V = 6.6; Size 20
18" (7/7/02 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): at
228x, this is an 8' irregular group of 80-100 stars including a mag 7.9 star on
the west side and about a dozen mag 10 stars. A mag 6.7 star lies 11' SE of center outside of the apparent
cluster (but part of
John Herschel discovered NGC 3572 = h3323 on 14 Mar 1834 and noted "Middle of a tolerably rich cluster, class VIII." His position is good.
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11 11 18.3 -36 52 33; Cen
V = 12.3; Size 3.6'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 4°
16" LX200 (4/14/07): moderately bright, moderately large, elongated 2:1 ~N-S, bright core, very small bright nucleus, faint extensions. A string of three mag 11.5-12.5 stars oriented E-W follow with the closest star 2.3' E and a mag 14.5 star is at the east edge. Located on the north side of the NGC 3557 group (part of the Hydra-Centaurus Supercluster) in the NW corner of Centaurus near the Antlia border.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3573 = h3322 on 20 Apr 1835 and recorded "eF; R; gradually little brighter middle; 20"; precedes 3 stars 11 and 12 mag, nearly on the same parallel. His position is 1.3' north o fESO 377-022 = PGC 34005 and the description matches.
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NGC 3574 = MCG +05-27-022 = CGCG 156-020 = PGC 34080
11 12 12.1 +27 37 29; Leo
V = 14.7; Size 0.4'x0.4'; Surf Br = 12.8
17.5" (4/14/01): extremely faint, very small, round, 15" diameter, no details and requires averted vision. Located 2.9' NE of NGC 3570 and second brightest in a group.
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3574 = St. 9-24, along with NGC 3570, on 15 Mar 1877.
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NGC 3575 = NGC 3162 = UGC 5510 = MCG +04-24-019 = CGCG 123-026
10 13 31.6 +22 44 15; Leo
See observing notes for NGC 3162.
Heinrich d'Arrest found NGC 3575 on 21 Feb 1863. He noted it was "moderately bright, R, 45" diam. A mag 11 stars precedes at 3' separation and a mag 16 star is 1' southeast. There is nothing at his position and Bigourdan and Reinmuth (Heidelberg plate) both reported negative results.
But Harold Corwin discovered that d'Arrest's RA was exactly one hour too large, and once corrected his position as well as description is a perfect match with NGC 3162, discovered by WH in 1784. d'Arrest made the same error with NGC 3760 that evening and with NGC 3167 on 1 May 1862.
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11 11 31.7 -61 21 48; Car
Size 1.1'x0.7'; PA = 90°
18" (7/7/02 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): NGC
3576 is the first of six sections in a small, but very interesting nebulous
complex consisting of NGC 3576,
NGC 3576 is a somewhat isolated patch on the southwest side,
about 5' from the main sections.
At 128x and a UHC filter it appeared as a faint, circular hazy patch of
low surface brightness with a mag 12.5 star at the west side and ~1.5' in
diameter. NGC 3579 is a small, fan
or wedge-shaped section located just to the west of larger NGC 3584. It appears 2' in size with a 12th
magnitude star at the south tip and spreads to the north and west from this
star. NGC 3581 is the brightest
section of this complex and has sharply defined borders running SW-NE and
NW-SE, meeting at a right angle about 1' WNW of mag 9.2
John Herschel discovered NGC 3576 = h3324 on 16 Mar 1834 and recorded "F, oval. The first of a group of 6. Place by collation of diagrams." His (rough) position is too far southwest. His sketch was included in the CGH Observations, plate IV, figure 10.
Joseph Turner sketched this group of nebulae on 19 May 1876 using the Great Melbourne Telescope (plate IV, figure 35 in "Observations of the Southern Nebulae made with the Great Melbourne Telescope..."). He sketched it noticeably elongated E-W.
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11 13 44.9 +48 16 22; UMa
V = 13.4; Size 1.4'x1.4'; Surf Br = 14.0
17.5" (4/6/91): very faint, small, slightly elongated WNW-ESE. A mag 11.5 star is 30" SE of the outer halo and 1.2' from center. Forms a pair with NGC 3583 5.2' NE.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3577 = H. III-723 on 1 Apr
1788 (sweep 822) and noted "eF, vS.
It is south preceding the foregoing nebula [NGC 3583]." His position is 4.5' north of
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11 12 48 -15 57; Crt
= **?, Corwin. = "Not found", Carlson.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3578 = h837 on 16 Dec 1827 (sweep 111) and recorded an uncertain "Nova" as "A doubtful object, but probably a nebula." There is nothing near his position he might have picked up. Dorothy Carlson reports "not found" in her 1940 NGC errata list. Harold Corwin lists a couple of single or double stars that JH might have noted.
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NGC 3579 = ESO 129-008 = RCW 57 = Ced 113b
11 11 58 -61 14 41; Car
Size 1.6'x0.8'; PA = 45°
18" (7/7/02 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): NGC 3579 is a small, fan or wedge-shaped section located just to the west of larger NGC 3584 within the RCW 57 complex. It appears 2' in size with a 12th magnitude star at the south tip and spreading to the north and west from this star. This is the second of 6 separate pieces catalogued by John Herschel.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3579 = h3325, in a group of nebulae, on 14 Mar 1834 and noted "R, suddenly brighter in the middle, by diagram. Place by collation of diagrams." Joseph Turner sketched this group of nebulae on 19 May 1876 using the Great Melbourne Telescope (plate IV, figure 35 in "Observations of the Southern Nebulae made with the Great Melbourne Telescope...")
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11 13 15.9 +03 39 26; Leo
V = 14.0; Size 0.9'x0.3'; Surf Br = 12.4; PA = 178°
17.5" (5/4/02): faint, very small, 20" diameter (core), quasi-stellar nucleus. At moments there are faint extensions N-S. A mag 13 star lies 1.3' ESE of center.
Wilhelm Tempel discovered NGC 3580 = T. 1-32 in 1876. His position and description (a mag 14
star follows by 3 - 4 sec of time) matches
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NGC 3581 = ESO 129-009 = Gum 38a = RCW 57 = Ced 113c
11 12 01 -61 18 00; Car
Size 1.6'x1.3'; PA = 45°
18" (7/7/02 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): NGC 3581 is the brightest section of this complex and has sharply defined borders running SW-NE and NW-SE, meeting at a right angle about 1' WNW of mag 9.2 SAO 251313. The overall size is ~2'x1.5' with an irregular surface brightness. NGC 3581 is just disconnected from NGC 3582, which is close NE.
A very young, infrared cluster (identified in SIMBAD as
"
John Herschel discovered NGC 3581 = h3326 on 14 Mar 1834 in an HII complex and noted "a * 12m, with a fan nebula attached. Place by direct observation." Joseph Turner sketched this group of nebulae on 19 May 1876 using the GMT (plate IV, figure 35 in "Observations of the Southern Nebulae made with the Great Melbourne Telescope..."). He shows the nebula tapering at the southwest end to a brighter star or knot.
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NGC 3582 = ESO 129-010 = RCW 57 = Ced 113d
11 12 10 -61 16 30; Car
Size 1.8'
18" (7/7/02 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): NGC 3582 is another fan-shaped section which wraps around a mag 10.6 star. It has a well-defined edge running SW to NE with the northern border running E-W. The brighter star is embedded roughly in the center and several mag 13 stars are near the border. The diameter is ~2' (similar in size to NGC 3581 just SW).
John Herschel discovered NGC 3582 = h3327 on 14 Mar 1834 in a complex of emission nebulae. He noted "R; has a * in middle. Place by collation of diagrams." Joseph Turner sketched this group of nebulae on 19 May 1876 using the GMT (plate IV, figure 35 in "Observations of the Southern Nebulae made with the Great Melbourne Telescope...").
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NGC 3583 = UGC 6263 = MCG +08-21-008 = CGCG 242-012 = PGC 34232
11 14 10.8 +48 19 06; UMa
V = 11.1; Size 2.8'x1.8'; Surf Br = 12.7; PA = 125°
17.5" (4/6/91): fairly bright, fairly small, elongated 3:2 WNW-ESE, 1.5'x1.0', bright core, stellar nucleus at moments. A mag 14 star is just off the south side 1.5' from the center. Forms a pair with NGC 3577 5.2' SW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3583 = H. II-728 on 5 Feb
1788 (sweep 808). He recorded
"pB, pL, R, very gradually much brighter middle." His position on sweep is 4' north of
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NGC 3584 = ESO 129-012 = RCW 57 = Ced 113e
11 12 19.2 -61 13 12; Car
Size 3.6'x0.8'
18" (7/7/02 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): NGC 3584 is the furthest northeast and the largest section of nebulosity. It appears as a looping arc about 3.5'x1', bowed out towards the east and extending mostly N-S and narrowing at the north end. A few mag 12 stars are off the edges. NGC 3579 appears as nearly a continuation of this loop towards the west.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3584 = h3329 on 16 Mar 1834 in a complex of emission nebulae and recorded "L, bM, E in meridian. Place by collation of diagram."
Joseph Turner sketched this group of nebulae on 19 May 1876 using the GMT (plate IV, figure 35 in "Observations of the Southern Nebulae made with the Great Melbourne Telescope..."). NGC 3584 is shown as a looping nebulosity, narrowing on the north end and matching my description and the photographic appearance.
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11 13 17.1 -26 45 18; Hya
V = 09.9; Size 4.7'x2.6'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 107°
17.5" (4/6/91): very bright, fairly small, elongated 2:1 WNW-ESE, very high surface brightness, very bright core, stellar nucleus. Two mag 13.5 stars are 2.5' NE and 3.3 ' NNW. Forms the western vertex of a near equilateral triangle with two mag 8.5 stars (SAO 179663 and 179667) 8.4' E and 8.4' SE.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3585 = H. II-269 = h3328 on 9 Dec 1784 (sweep 676) and noted "pB, pL, lE, mbB." His position at the south edge of the galaxy. John Herschel made two observations from the CGH and first logged "vB, pL, pmE; forms equilateral triangle with two stars 8th and 8-9 mag following, distant 6' or 7'." Joseph Turner made a sketch on 13 Apr 1877 with the 48" Melbourne Telescope showing it as nearly edge-on WNW-ESE with a small bright nucleus.
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NGC 3586 = ESO 129-013 = RCW 57 = Ced 113f
11 12 29.5 -61 20 57; Car
Size 2'x0.4'; PA = 0°
18" (7/7/02 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): NGC 3586 is the last in the complex of nebulae and is situated ~4' SE of the center. It appears as a faint, elongated steak of 2' length oriented N-S with an 11th magnitude star about 40" NE of the north tip.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3586 = h3330 on 14 Mar 1834 in a complex of emission nebulae and recorded "S, oval, E in pos 160° +/- by diagram. Place by collation of diagrams; the last of a group of 6."
Joseph Turner sketched this group of nebulae on 19 May 1876 using the GMT (plate IV, figure 35 in "Observations of the Southern Nebulae made with the Great Melbourne Telescope..."). A star is close to the north tip. This matches the photographic appearance.
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11 14 47.7 +55 01 08; UMa
V = 9.8; Size 202"x196"
48" (4/19/15): at 375x and 488x w/NPB filter; although the unfiltered view was excellent, adding a NPB filter at 488x ramped up the contrast! The two famous holes were very high contrast with the NW "eye" slightly larger with a irregular outline. The slightly darker SE "eye" has an easily visible star at its S edge [40" SSE of the central star]. In addition, a third very faint star (best seen unfiltered) is close west of this hole [37" SSW of center]. Overall the surface brightness of the planetary is irregular or mottled. It fades around the periphery creating a dimmer ragged circular rim of uneven brightness. The main bright portion of the planetary is slightly elongated NNW-SSE.
48" (4/15/10): the Owl Nebula was quite impressive at
330x (unfiltered) and exhibited a fascinating amount of detail. The mag 16 central star was easily
visible at the center of the 3.4' disc.
To the northwest and southeast of the central star are two large, darker
"holes" (Owl's "eyes"), each roughly 45" in
diameter. The southeast eye has a
little more contrast and a very faint star is close to its SE edge. The NW "eye" is a little
larger, though not quite as dark in the center. A mag 12 star lies 2.6' NE of center and a mag 14 star lies
3' S of center.
24" (2/9/13): although I didn't take notes on the structure of M97, the mag 16 central was readily visible using magnifications of 200x and higher.
17.5" (3/12/88): both holes definitely visible at 280x using a UHC filter.
17.5" (2/28/87): fairly bright, very large, round. Two low contrast darker "holes" are visible with averted vision which form the "eyes" of the "Owl Nebula". The southeast hole is darker but the northwest hole appears larger. Central star not visible.
13.1" (4/28/84): moderately bright, large, round. A single hole west of center is highly suspected.
13.1" (2/25/84): the darker "holes" visible were near the threshold. No central star seen at 166x-220x.
Pierre Méchain discovered M97 = NGC 3587 = h838 on 16 Feb 1781.
William Herschel's first observed M97 on 8 Aug 1783 with his 6.2", before starting his sweeps. He viewed it with his 18.7" on 14 Apr 1789 (sweep 920): "Very or considerably bright, round, 3' diameter, of equal light throughout. Like a planetary brought to 1/4 of the distance of my other planetary ones; it has an ill defined margin of no great extent."
A total of 45 observations were made at Birr Castle. The dark holes were first recorded by assistant William Rambaut on 5 Mar 1848: "Saw two dark and very large spots in middle; Lord Rosse remarked that all round its edge the sky appeared darker than the average." On 11 March, Lord Rosse wrote, "Brilliant star in the centre. After 5 min observation, detected the star to the right, which Dr. Robinson immediately saw. Round each star seems a black space." Rosse's or Rambaut's sketch, made in 1848, suggested some spiral structure ("a double perforation appears to partake of the structure both of the annular and spiral nebulae."). He was clearly influenced by the focus on resolving spiral structure in a variety of objects.
Between 1848 and early 1850 Lord Rosse and Johnstone Stoney made additional detailed sketches (Rosse, Fig. 11, 1850 publication) that vaguely resembled the face of an owl with two large dark holes or "eyes" punctuated by stars (one is the misplaced central star), additional darker streaks and patches, and fuzzy filaments extending out of the sides (perhaps to indicate an irregular fringe). On 13 Apr 1850, Stoney noted that only one star was visible. Wilhelm Tempel was highly critical, though, of Rosse's fanciful sketch when he drew the planetary in 1876 with the 11" refractor at the Arcetri Observatory in Florence. William Huggins first observed the two brighter emission lines in the spectrum in 1865.
The nickname "Owl Nebula" was never used by Lord Rosse in a published paper but in 1864 William Darby wrote that M97 was "familiarly known in the Parsontown Observatory as 'the owl nebula' from its resemblance to an owl." For an unusual interpretation of the appearance, Romney Robinson described the planetary on 11 Mar 1848 as "A most intricate group of spiral arcs disposed around two starry centers, looking like the visage of a monkey."
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NGC 3588 = UGC 6264 = MCG +04-27-009 = CGCG 126-011 = PGC 34219
11 14 02.5 +20 23 15; Leo
V = 14.3; Size 0.6'x0.6'; Surf Br = 13.0
18" (5/31/03): very faint, very small, round, 0.4' diameter. Weak, even concentration to center. Located just 8' S of mag 2.6 Delta Leonis! (Zosma). Not difficult at 320x with Delta just outside of field.
Lewis Swift discovered NGC 3588 = Sw. 1-12 on 26 Apr 1883
and recorded "cS; vF; follows Delta Leonis 4 sec. Easily overlooked." His position, 8' south of Delta Leonis,
matches
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11 15 13.4 +60 42 02; UMa
V = 13.8; Size 1.5'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.8; PA = 48°
17.5" (3/19/88): faint, moderately large, oval ~SW-NE,
diffuse. Located just west of the
line connecting mag 7.5
William Herschel discovered NGC 3589 = H. III-921 = h839 on 9 Apr 1793 (sweep 1039) and noted "eF, pL, E." John Herschel recorded on 25 Mar 1832 (sweep 406), "vF; L; very gradually little brighter middle; 45"; situated in the centre of gravity of a triangle of 3 large stars 5' distance." His position was accurate.
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11 12 59 -60 47 18; Car
V = 8.2; Size 4'
18" (7/7/02 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): at 228x, this is a small, fairly bright 2' knot of ~20 stars mag 10 and fainter. At 76x this diminutive cluster is set in a remarkable field, forming a triangle with NGC 3603 and the NGC 3579-86 complex (RCW 57) to the south.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3590 = h3332 on 4 Feb 1835 (sweep 543) and recorded "a close, p rich, compressed, oval cluster, somewhat insulated." His position is good.
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11 14 03.3 -14 05 14; Crt
V = 13.3; Size 1.3'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 150°
18" (3/19/04): fairly faint, fairly small, slightly elongated NNW-SSE, 0.9'x0.7'. Contains a very small brighter nucleus, ~10" diameter.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3591 = H. III-529 = h3331 on 27 Mar 1786 (sweep 548) and noted "eF, S." John Herschel recorded "vF; R; 30"; very little brighter middle" and measured an accurate position.
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11 14 27.5 +17 15 34; Leo
V = 13.7; Size 1.8'x0.6'; Surf Br = 13.6; PA = 120°
17.5" (4/9/99): surprisingly faint for listed
magnitude, required averted and appeared as a 15" "knot" just
45" following a mag 14.5 star.
Elongation not seen so I only viewed the brighter inner core of this
edge-on system. Located 11' W of
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3592 = m 216 on 4 Mar 1865 and
noted "eF, S, pmE, pos 60°."
Marth's position matches
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11 14 37.0 +12 49 03; Leo
V = 10.9; Size 5.2'x1.9'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 92°
17.5" (4/1/95): bright, fairly large, very elongated 3:1 E-W, 3.2'x1.2'. Strong concentration from a faint outer halo to a prominent elongated core and a very small rounder nucleus.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3593 = H. I-29 = h840 on 12 Apr 1784 (sweep 188) and recorded "B, cL, lE, mbM, r." John Herschel made 4 observations, the first on 10 Apr 1825 (sweep 2) while still developing his technique. On 13 Mar 1826 (sweep 22) he noted, "B; E; pretty suddenly much brighter middle; 40" l, 30" br."
R.J. Mitchell, Lord Rosse's assistant on 27 Mar 1856, logged "suspect as before a dark lane along the n side of the nucleus and neby outside this again, but far from being certain."
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11 16 14.0 +55 42 15; UMa
V = 13.7; Size 1.3'x1.2'; Surf Br = 14.1; PA = 10°
17.5" (3/12/88): faint, very small, round, bright core. A mag 11 star is 2.7' ENE.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3594 = H. III-770 on 14 Apr
1789 (sweep 920). He noted
"very faint, very small, stellar neb." It was found about a minute and half after observing M97 for
the first time during his sweeps.
His position is 0.6 minutes of RA west and 2.5' N of
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11 15 25.5 +47 26 49; UMa
V = 12.1; Size 1.6'x0.7'; Surf Br = 12.1; PA = 176°
17.5" (4/22/95): moderately bright, fairly small,
elongated 2:1 N-S. Sharp concentration
with a very small bright core and much fainter extensions. Located 2.0' S of mag 7.4 SAO
43659!
William Herschel discovered NGC 3595 = H. III-706 on 5 Feb
1788 (sweep 808) and recorded "vF, vS, stellar, south of a cB star." His position is 2' too far north (very
close to mag 7.6
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11 15 06.2 +14 47 13; Leo
V = 11.3; Size 4.0'x3.8'; Surf Br = 14.1
24" (5/27/17): bright, large, broad fairly weak concentration in halo to a slightly brighter core, small brighter nucleus. The galaxy is bracketed by a mag 13.5 star 3.7' SSW and a similar star 3.4' N. A third 13th mag star is 4.7' due E forming a near equilateral triangle with sides 7'.
13.1" (4/10/86): moderately bright, fairly large, diffuse, slightly elongated NW-SE, sharp stellar nucleus is possibly offset to the west of the geometric center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3596 = H. II-102 = h841 on 8
Apr 1784 (sweep 187) and recorded "Faintish, pS, R, rather bM,
resolvable." His position is
2'-3' north-northwest of
R.J. Mitchell, observing with LdR's 72" on 22 Mar 1857, wrote that he "strongly suspect either a vF nebulous ring round nucleus, or a branch joining centre at the following side. Difficult object." Suprisingly, E.E. Barnard announced in 1906 (AN 172, 123) the discovery of a new large planetary found on a photographic plate and observed visually with the Yerkes 40" refractor. But his position and description (about 2.5' in diameter) applies to this galaxy!
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11 14 42.0 -23 43 39; Crt
V = 12.6; Size 1.9'x1.5'; Surf Br = 13.6; PA = 65°
18" (3/19/04): moderately bright, fairly small, round,
0.8' diameter. Moderate even
concentration to a very small bright core and stellar nucleus. A pair of mag 13 stars lie less than 2'
NE of center. Located 5' SSW of
mag 9.1
John Herschel discovered NGC 3597 = h3333 on 21 Mar 1835 and
recorded "vF; R; bM; much diluted at the borders, 30"." His
position matches
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NGC 3598 = UGC 6278 = MCG +03-29-014 = CGCG 096-014 = PGC 34306
11 15 11.6 +17 15 45; Leo
V = 12.3; Size 1.9'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 35°
17.5" (4/9/99): fairly faint, fairly small, slightly elongated SW-NE, well-concentrated with a bright core steadily increasing to a faint stellar nucleus. The outer halo is ill-defined and much weaker. A mag 14 star is just off the north edge 0.6' from center and a pair of mag 13.5 stars is 4' ENE. NGC 3592 lies 11' W.
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3598 = m 217 = T. 1-33 on 4 Mar 1865 and noted "F, vS, stell." His position is accurate.
Wilhelm Tempel found this galaxy in 1876 and recorded it as new in his first discovery paper. He mentioned a star was close north.
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11 15 27.0 +18 06 37; Leo
V = 12.0; Size 2.7'x2.1'; Surf Br = 13.7; PA = 99°
17.5" (4/13/02): moderately bright, moderately large,
elongated ~4:3, 2.0'x1.5'. Contains a small, fairly bright round core which is
concentrated to the center with a much lower surface brightness halo. Located 21' WNW of
William Herschel discovered NGC 3599 = H. II-49 = h843 = St.
12-43 on 14 Mar 1784 (sweep 170) and logged "resolvable, brightest in the
middle & the brightness going off imperceptibly." On 17 Mar 1831 (sweep 334) John
Herschel wrote , "B; R: pretty suddenly much brighter middle;
35"." Édouard Stephan
observed NGC 3599, as well as
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11 15 52.0 +41 35 28; UMa
V = 11.7; Size 4.1'x0.9'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 3°
17.5" (4/1/95): fairly faint, very elongated 3:1 N-S, 1.8'x0.6', small bright core, faint extensions. Two mag 12 stars lie 2.4' and 3.2' NNW of center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3600 = H. II-709 = h842 on 14 Jan 1788 (sweep 798). He recorded "very faint; small; elongated in the meridian [N-S]." John Herschel's description from 12 Apr 1830 (sweep 248) reads "pretty bright; small; little elongate; very gradually bright middle; 20" diameter."
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11 15 33.3 +05 06 56; Leo
V = 13.8; Size 0.5'x0.4'; Surf Br = 12.1
17.5" (5/4/02): faint, small, irregularly round, 25"x20" diameter, even surface brightness. A mag 13 star lies 2.9' SSE.
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3601 = m 218 on 22 Mar 1865 and
noted " vF, pS, alm stell."
His position matches
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11 15 48.3 +17 24 57; Leo
V = 14.8; Size 0.8'x0.2'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 45°
18" (5/15/10): extremely faint, very small, required averted vision to initially pick up at 175x although visible ~75% of the time at 260x. Appears roughly as a tiny, thin streak, ~15"x5", although sometimes the extensions were not seen, only a 5" core. . Located 3.4' NE of a mag 10 star.
17.5" (4/9/99): not found.
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3602 = m 219 on 4 Mar 1865 and
noted "eeF, vS, alm stell."
His position matches
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NGC 3603 = ESO 129-16 = Cr 244 = [Hf53] 57 = Gum 38b = RCW 57
11 15 07 -61 15 42; Car
V = 9.1; Size 12'
24" (4/5/08 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): this
distant (20,000 light years) superluminous HII region and cluster was
mesmerizing at 200x using a UHC filter.
The nebulosity was generally elongated E-W, ~5'x3', but with bays and
extensions and dark lanes. The
surface brightness was highest to the south of the embedded cluster with a dark
lane slashing through the nebulosity just west of the bright core. At 350x, 15-20 stars were resolved in
the glow, though the tiny, brilliant "core" cluster (
13.1" (2/20/04 - Costa Rica): at 105x a bright irregular nebula surrounds a mag 9 "star". At 200x, a half-dozen very faint stars are packed very close to the central star. This very compact knot is actually a distant, very dense, super star cluster (SSC) of extremely luminous stars! Adding a UHC filter, the nebulosity is irregular at 105x, extending mostly south of the star and fading out into two or three sections that are possibly divided by a dark lane. The brightest section is to the southwest of the central star.
18" (7/7/02 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): at 228x this distant but superluminous HII region is a fascinating clump of stars of and nebulosity surrounding a bright 9th magnitude knot. The bright central region was extremely dense and contained 10-12 stars crammed into 2', yet it seemed only partially resolved at the very center into a couple of stars. At 128x and UHC filter, the surrounding "haze" is clearly gaseous in nature with the brightest portion offset to the SW side from the core with a roughly broad fan with a total size of approximately 5'x3'. A dark lane appears to cut through the nebulosity towards the core and there is a strong impression that the field is riddled with dust lanes and patches. This is a well-studied highly reddened, luminous cluster (~20,000 light years) and HII region with similarities to the Tarantula nebula in the LMC!
John Herschel discovered NGC 3603 = h3334 on 14 Mar 1834. He recorded "a red star 10m, the centre of an excessively condensed group of stars 15...18m, with a nebulosity extending over 2' diameter. On the next sweep, he noted "the center, when examined with powers 240 and 320, decidedly not a star, and the nebula about it all resolved. Perhaps it is a globular clusters, veru suddenly very much brighter in the middle."
In 1928, Willem van den Bos examined the central
"star" with the 26.5-inch refractor at the Union Observatory in
Johannesburg and found "the central star to be a close double,
The emission nebula surrounding the cluster was first catalogued in a 1953 study by Dorrit Hoffleit based on red and blue plates taken with the ADH Schmidt telescope in South Africa. Described as a "Irregular, Area I [near NGC 3572]."
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NGC 3604 = NGC 3611 = UGC 6305 = MCG +01-29-026 = CGCG 039-103 = PGC 34478
11 17 30.1 +04 33 19; Leo
V = 12.1; Size 2.1'x1.7'; Surf Br = 13.4
See observing notes for
William Herschel discovered NGC 3604 = H. II-626 on 30 Dec 1786 (short sweep 675) and recorded "pretty bright, small, little extended, much brighter middle." There is nothing at Herschel's position and this object was not recovered by Bigourdan. In the "Scientific Papers of William Herschel", Dreyer states "should probably be rejected as there was fog "which indeed was so strong as to make everything swim about me." But, Herschel's RA is 1.0 minute preceding NGC 3611 (similar offset as NGC 3509 on the same sweep). Dorothy Carlson (1940 NGC correction paper), Harold Corwin, and Wolfgang Steinicke equate NGC 3604 and 3611. See Corwin's notes.
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NGC 3605 = UGC 6295 = MCG +03-29-019 = CGCG 096-019 = Holm 240c = WBL 319-001 = PGC 34415
11 16 46.6 +18 01 01; Leo
V = 12.3; Size 1.5'x1.0'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 17°
24" (3/23/22): at 260x; fairly bright, moderately large, elongated 3:2 SSW-NNE, 60"x40". Contains a bright, relatively large core and a very bright nucleus that increases to the center. Situated just off the SW side of NGC 3607, 3.0' from center.
24" (5/27/17): fairly bright, moderately large, oval 2:1 SSW-NNE, 0.8'x0.4', sharply concentrated with a small very bright core that increases to a quasi-stellar nucleus. Close pair with brighter NGC 3607 3' NE. Member of the large group USGC U376.
13.1" (2/16/85): fairly faint, small, round, small bright nucleus. In a group with brigtest member NGC 3607 3.0' NE.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3605 = H. III-27 = h844 =
St. 12-43, along with NGC 3607 and 3608, on 14 Mar 1784 (sweep 170). He described these as, "Three
nebula of different sizes; all brightest in the middle & R. The largest is that in the middle [NGC
3607] & is of a considerable size; that on the north [
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11 16 15.6 -33 49 40; Hya
V = 12.4; Size 1.5'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.1
18" (3/17/07): moderately bright, fairly small, round,
0.6' diameter, small bright core, relatively bright stellar nucleus. Two mag 10 and 11 stars lie 4.5' and
5.5' NNE.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3606 = h3335 on 20 Apr 1835 NGC
3606 and logged "eF; R; S; gradually brighter in the middle;
15"." His single
observation matches
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NGC 3607 = UGC 6297 = MCG +03-29-020 = CGCG 096-021 = Holm 240a = WBL 319-002 = PGC 34426
11 16 54.7 +18 03 06; Leo
V = 9.9; Size 4.9'x2.5'; Surf Br = 12.5; PA = 120°
24" (3/23/22): at 260x; very bright, very large, extensive halo over 3' diameter, large bright core, sharply concentration with a small intensely bright nucleus. The halo gradually fades into the sky background with no distinct edge. NGC 3605 is close off the SW edge, 2.8' SW of center. A small group of mag 12-14 stars is ~4' SE.
24" (5/27/17): very bright, large, oval 4:3 NW-SE, sharply concentrated with an intensely bright core that increases to an extremely bright nucleus. A nice group of 5 stars is roughly 4' SE with one a wide pair [17"]. In a small group of bright galaxies (part of the larger group USGC U376) with NGC 3605 2.9' SW and NGC 3608 5.8' N.
13.1" (2/16/85): bright, slightly elongated, bright core, stellar nucleus. Brightest in a group with NGC 3608 5.7' N, NGC 3605 3.0' SW and NGC 3599 21' WNW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3607 = H. II-50 = h845 = St. 12-44, along with NGC 3605 and 3608, on 14 Mar 1784 (sweep 170). See NGC 3605 for description.
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NGC 3608 = UGC 6299 = MCG +03-29-022 = CGCG 096-022 = Holm 240b = WBL 319-003 = PGC 34433
11 16 59.0 +18 08 55; Leo
V = 10.8; Size 3.2'x2.6'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 75°
24" (3/23/22): at 260x; bright, large, elongated 4:3 WSW-ENE, ~ 2' diameter. Sharply concentred with a very bright core that increases to an intensely bright center. The halo nearly reaches a mag 12.3 star 1.3' NW of center. A similar star is 1.9' NE of center. Second brightest in a striking trio with NGC 3607 6' S and NGC 3605.
24" (5/27/17): bright, fairly large, slightly elongated WSW-ENE, 1.5' diameter, sharply concentrated with a very bright, very small core and an intense nucleus. In a prominent trio with NGC 3607 5.9' S and NGC 3605 8.5' SS W and part of the larger group USGC U376. Two mag 12.3 and 12.8 stars are 1.4' NW and 1.9' NE.
13.1" (2/16/85): moderately bright, small, stellar nucleus. Appears slightly fainter than NGC 3607 5.7' S. In a trio with NGC 3605 and NGC 3607.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3608 = H. II-51 = h846 = St. 12-45, along with NGC 3605 and 3607, on 14 Mar 1784 (sweep 170). See NGC 3605 for description.
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11 17 50.6 +26 37 33; Leo
V = 13.1; Size 1.2'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 50°
17.5" (4/22/95): faint, moderately large, round, 1.2'
diameter. Weak concentration to a
slightly brighter core. A mag 14
star is just off the south edge 50" from center and a second mag 14 star
is 1.8' NW. A brighter mag 11 star
lies 3.3' NE. Forms a pair with
Otto Struve found NGC 3609 on 18 Mar 1869 with the 15-inch Merz refractor at the Pulkovo Observatory in St. Petersburg. It was found while searching for Comet Winnecke (7P/Pons-Winnecke) without realizing he made the original discovery just 2 nights earlier. As a result it carries two NGC designations; 3609 and 3612. Modern sources mistakenly identify UGC 6321 as NGC 3612. See NGC 3612 for the story.
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11 18 25.3 +58 47 10; UMa
V = 10.8; Size 2.7'x2.3'; Surf Br = 12.8
17.5" (3/19/88): bright, small, slightly elongated
NW-SE. Sharp concentration with a
very small bright core and a faint halo!
About 15' NNW is a small group of 7 stars including mag 9.0
NGC 3610 is the brightest member of a 5 member group (LGG 234), along with NGC 3610, 3619, 3642, 3674 and 3683.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3610 = H. I-270 = h847 on 8 Apr 1793 (sweep 1038). He noted "very bright, considerably large." John Herschel made 3 observations, on 14 Apr 1831 (sweep 344), logging "bright; round; very small & very much brighter middle to a * 11m." His position is accurate.
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NGC 3611 = NGC 3604 = UGC 6305 = MCG +01-29-026 = CGCG 039-103 = Todd 1 = PGC 34478
11 17 30.1 +04 33 19; Leo
V = 12.1; Size 2.1'x1.7'; Surf Br = 13.4
17.5" (3/22/96): moderately bright, elongated 2:1 SSW-NNE, 1.2'x0.8'. Fairly sharp concentration with a rounder 30" core and a bright nearly stellar nucleus offset to the north side of the core. A mag 11 star is 3.2' NNW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3611 = H. II-521 = h849 on 27 Jan 1786 (sweep 514). He recorded "Faint, very small, irregular figure, easily resolvable." A second observation was made on 15 Apr 1786 (sweep 552) after just moving to Slough with the telescope not yet properly adjusted for the meridian. Then it was found again on 30 Dec 1786 (short sweep 675) and assumed to be new. He recorded II-626 (later NGC 3604) as "pretty bright, small, little elongated, much brighter middle." So, NGC 3611 = NGC 3604, both appearing in Herschel second catalogue.
John Herschel made two observations, first recording "B; S; R suddenly much brighter middle; has a * 10m, 60° np, dist 3'." Finally, David Todd found NGC 3611 once again on 3 Nov 1877 in his search for trans-Neptunian planet. Todd's offset for object #1 from nearby stars matches this galaxy.
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NGC 3612 = NGC 3609 = UGC 6310 = MCG +05-27-043 = CGCG 156-050 = PGC 34511
11 17 50.5 +26 37 32; Leo
V = 13.1; Size 1.2'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 50°
See observing notes for NGC 3609. Modern sources misidentify UGC 6321, located 5.4' E, as NGC 3612.
Otto Struve discovered NGC 3612 on 16 Mar 1869 with the
15-inch Merz refractor at the Pulkovo Observatory in St. Petersburg. It was found while searching for Comet
Winnecke (7P/Pons-Winnecke). His
description (translately roughly from German using GoogleTranslate) reads
"pretty faint, 30"-40" diameter. A mag 10-11 star is approximately
2' north following, with the nebula in position angle 225°." His position is within 1' of
Two nights later (18 Mar) Struve reported finding another nebula, described as 20" diameter and situated in PA 226° from a 10th magnitude star. His position was 14 seconds of time too far west, but his PA is a perfect match with UGC 6310. So, although there are two galaxies here, both of Struve's entries point to the same brighter galaxy. I notified Corwin and Steinicke of the situation in April 2015 and Wolfgang agreed NGC 3612 = NGC 3615 = UGC 6310. He mentioned that this leaves UGC 6321 without a NGC designation as Bigourdan, Kobold and Hagen only observed the brighter galaxy. Kobold called the brighter galaxy NGC 3612, but modern sources identify it as NGC 3609.
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11 18 36.0 +58 00 00; UMa
V = 10.9; Size 3.9'x1.9'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 102°
17.5" (3/19/88): bright, moderately large, very
elongated 3:1 WNW-ESE, very bright core, stellar nucleus.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3613 = H. I-271 = h848 on 8 Apr 1793 (sweep 1038). He logged "very bright, considerably large, elongated, much brighter middle." His RA and Dec is too large (noted by Dreyer in Scientific Papers). John Herschel recorded "vB; mE; pos 305°, a nucl and F branches." and measured an accurate position.
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11 18 21.3 +45 44 53; UMa
V = 11.6; Size 4.6'x2.6'; Surf Br = 14.1; PA = 80°
17.5" (4/6/91): faint, moderately large, weak concentration, slightly elongated 4:3 E-W with dimensions 2.5'x2.0', low surface brightness, edges fade gradually into background. Located on a line with a mag 13 star 3.5' E and a mag 12 star 5.1' W.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3614 = H. II-729 = h850 on 5
Feb 1788 (sweep 808) and recorded "vF, cL, little brighter middle, lE in
the parallel." John Herschel
noted "F; pL; gradually little brighter middle; r." His position matches
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11 18 06.7 +23 23 50; Leo
V = 12.8; Size 1.4'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 40°
17.5" (4/9/99): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated
2:1 SW-NE, 1.2'x0.6'. The prominent
20" core steadily increases to a stellar nucleus. First and brightest of a trio with NGC
3618 7' NE and extremely faint
William Herschel discovered NGC 3615 = H. III-333 = h851 on
10 Apr 1785 (sweep 394) and recorded "vF, vS. 240x verified it." Caroline's reduction is 3.4' northwest of
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11 18 08.9 +14 45 53; Leo
= Not found, Harold Corwin and Dorothy Carlson.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3616 = H. III-76 on 8 Apr 1784 (sweep 187) and recorded "eF, pL. Some doubts were removed by putting on 240." There is noithing near his position and Dreyer notes in his 1912 revision of WH's catalogues that it was not found by Bigourdan (visually) nor by Max Wolf (on a Heidelberg plate).
Harold Corwin initially identified this number with a star near WH's position but more recently he feels a single or even close double star would not fit Herschel's description of "pL". So, this object is not found. See Corwin's notes.
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11 17 50.9 -26 08 04; Hya
V = 12.8; Size 1.8'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.7; PA = 147°
18" (3/19/04): fairly faint, small, round , 30" diameter. Increases to a very small brighter nucleus. I probably only viewed the brighter core and missed the dim halo.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3617 = h3336 on 22 Mar 1836 and
recorded "F; S; R: gradually brighter in the middle; 20"." His position matches
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11 18 32.6 +23 28 08; Leo
V = 13.6; Size 0.9'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 175°
17.5" (4/9/99): faint, fairly small, round, 1.0' diameter, weak concentration. Third of three on a line with CGCG 126-022 and NGC 3615 7' SW. At low power collinear with two mag 10 stars equally spaced 8' and 17' NE.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3618 = H. III-334 on 10 Apr
1785 (sweep 394) and noted "vF, S, goes into the field with the foregoing
[NGC 3615]." Caroline's
reduction is 3.6' northwest of
NGC 3618 was assumed to be a new on the 23 Mar 1857 observation by R.J. Mitchell at Birr Castle: "about 6' or 7' nf [NGC 3615] is a S, vvF patch, little brighter in the middle." JH included this observation in the GC (2365) as well as GC 2368 = III-334. In the 1880 compilation of LdR observations, Dreyer added the note "the latter [GC 2365] is not a "nova" but = III 334, as pointed out by d'Arrest. GC 2365 is to be struck out."
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NGC 3619 = UGC 6330 = MCG +10-16-115 = CGCG 291-054 = PGC 34641
11 19 21.6 +57 45 29; UMa
V = 11.5; Size 2.7'x2.3'; Surf Br = 13.4
17.5" (3/19/88): fairly bright, moderately large,
slightly elongated SW-NE, small bright core, stellar nucleus. Forms a pair with
8" (3/28/81): faint, small, round.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3619 = H. I-244 = h852 on 18
Mar 1790 (sweep 951). He recorded
"cB, R, very gradually much brighter middle, 1 1/2' dia." Caroline's reduced position is just off
the nortwest edge of
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11 16 04 -76 12 54; Cha
V = 13.9; Size 2.8'x1.1'; Surf Br = 15.0; PA = 78°
24" (4/5/08 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): fairly
faint, very elongated 3:1 E-W, 1.2'x0.4', weak concentration. A mag 14.5 star is pinned against the
south side, a little west of the center.
I reobserved this galaxy not realizing it was logged the previous
night. Located 32' NE of the
bright reflection nebula
24" (4/4/08 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): fairly faint, moderately large, very elongated 3:1 E-W, 1.5'x0.5', small brighter core. A mag 14 star is barely off the south side (west of center). The large reflection nebula, IC 2631, lies 32' SW.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3620 = h3338 on 31 Mar 1837 and
logged "F; pmE; gradually brighter in the middle; 50". His position
and description matches
NGC 3620 was first photographed by DeLisle Stewart at Harvard's Arequipa Station between 1898 and 1901 and noted as "eF, S, considerably elongated at 80°, 12 mag star 0.5' south."
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11 18 16.5 -32 48 51; Hya
V = 9.7; Size 12.3'x7.1'; Surf Br = 14.4; PA = 159°
48" (5/9/18): at 488x; this prominent galaxy is extremely large and irregular but elongated at least 2:1 NNW-SSE. The main disk extends ~7'x3' and is noticeably mottled and dappled with slightly brighter and darker areas. Around the periphery is a very low surface brightness outer halo that dissolved into the background sky, but could be traced ~5' SE of center. The galaxy contains a very large, brighter central region, which appeared somewhat offset within the main disk, though it was less defined than a typical core or nucleus. The most noticeable features are a couple of large dust lanes that border or outline spiral arms and arcs. A long, thin dust lane extends in an SSE to NNW orientation, just east of the central region. This dark lane cuts off or borders a relatively narrow spiral arm that is adjacent to the east. It contains a brighter 10" knot (includes stellar association/HII complex [KWB2013] 104) that was easily visible 1.1' ESE of center and 1.1' due west of mag 12.7 star. A broader dusty lane extends SSE to NNW along the west side. A very low surface brightness arm running parallel is just west of this darker lane or gap.
Several brighter stars outline the galaxy; two mag 10.3/10.6 stars are near the southern edge of the halo, 2.8' SSW of center and 3.9' SSE of center, and a mag 12.7 star is placed ~2.5' ESE of center. A number of stars cradle the north end of the galaxy; the brightest is a mag 11.6 star [2.6 NW of center], which forms a kite asterism outlining the galaxy, along with the previous three stars. In addition, a couple of stars are superimposed on the north side of the main glow, and a number of additional mag 13 and 14 stars are at the northern edge of the halo.
17.5" (4/6/91): bright, large, elongated 5:2 NNW-SSE, 6' diameter, weak central concentration and along the major axis but no sharp nucleus. Several stars are nearby; three mag 11-13 stars are off the north tip and two mag 10 stars are 2.7' SW and 3.7' SSE of center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3621 = H. I-241 = D 617 = D 610 = h3337 on 17 Feb 1790 (sweep 808). He recorded "considerably bright, very gradually brighter middle, elongated from about 70° np to sf, about 6 or 7' long and near 4' broad. Within a parallelogram of stars."Using 2000 coordinates, NGC 3621 is the most southerly object that Herschel discovered, but precessing back to the observation date, it was 1.1° higher in declination and the 4th most southerly object he discovered. From the latitude of Slough, NGC 3621 culminated at an elevation of just 6.8°. The observation was made standing or sitting on steps on the ground, not in the observing gallery.
James Dunlop observed NGC 3621 on 30 Apr 1826 and recorded D 617 as "a faint nebula, irregular figure, extended 6' in length, position north preceding and south following - 2 small stars follow the nebula. He made additional observations in May and August: "a very faint pretty large nebula, about 2' broad and 4' long, very faint at the edges. The brightest and most condensed part is near the south following extremity; a small star is involved in the north preceding extremity, and there are two small stars near the south extremity, but not involved." D 610, described as "a faint nebula of an irregular figure, extended about 6' in length", is a duplicate entry but his declination was 1° too far north.
John Herschel observed the galaxy on 29 Apr 1834 from the Cape of Good Hope and recorded, "pB, vL, oval, very gradually very little brighter middle, resolvable [mottled], 5' long, 3' broad."
NGC 3621 was first photographed by DeLisle Stewart at Harvard's Arequipa Station between 1898 and 1901 and noted as a "large, close, spiral." It was photographed again in the 1930s at the Boyden Observatory in Bloemfontein, South Africa with the 60-inch Common reflector and described by John Paraskevopoulos as a "peculiar spiral with a wide faint extension to the southward that nearly doubles the length of the object over the portion that can be clearly seen in the reproduction"
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11 20 12.5 +67 14 29; UMa
V = 13.2; Size 1.2'x0.5'; Surf Br = 12.4; PA = 7°
17.5" (4/22/95): moderately bright, elongated 2:1 N-S,
1.2'x0.6', elongated bright core.
A mag 13.5 star is 1.5' SE of center. Located 9.3' NNW of mag 6.2
William Herschel discovered NGC 3622 = H. II-879 = h853 on 6
Apr 1793 (sweep 1036) and noted "pB, R, S, bM." Caroline's reduced position is 1.8 tmin
following
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11 18 55.3 +13 05 35; Leo
V = 9.3; Size 9.8'x2.9'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 174°
48" (5/1/19): at 375x; beautiful, extremely large, showpiece spiral extending 7:2 N-S. The galaxy displayed a strong concentration with a very bright, round core and an intensely bright, prominent nucleus. There was a slight enhancement along the major axis but no impression of a bar. A long, low contrast dust lane runs N-S along the length of the galaxy on the east side. The edge was a bit ragged and the glow of the galaxy on its east side had a low surface brightness. A mag 14.5 star is at the W edge of the dust lane, due E of the core. Also a mag 16 star is at the W edge of the galaxy, slightly S of the nucleus [1.2' WSW of the mag 14.5 star]. A mag 12.3 star is 2.3' SSW of center, just off the W side.
17.5" (1/31/87): very bright, very large, very elongated
N-S, 7.5'x2.0', bright core, stellar nucleus. A mag 12 star is west of the south end 2.1' from the
center. Forms a remarkable trio
with
13.1" (4/10/86): very bright, elongated N-S, elongated bright core, possible stellar nucleus.
Charles Messier discovered
William Herschel first observed it in April 1783, probably with his 6.2" reflector. On 31 May 1783 with his 12-inch (20-ft focal length) he logged "almost a certainty of its being stars. There is however in both the nebulas [65 and 66] a certain whitishness left which may be nebulosity." With his 18.7-inch workhorse, he observed it on sweep 188 (12 Apr 1784) and described it in his 1811 publication as "a very brilliant nebula extended in the meridian, about 12' long. It has a bright nucleus, the light of which suddenly diminishes on its border, and two opposite very faint branches." A sketch is shown in fig. 29 in his 1811 paper representing "extended nebulae that show the progress of condensation."
Lord Rosse observed M65 on 31 Mar 1848 and described it as a "Curious nebula with bright nucleus at left a little above and towards the right is a streak spiral; resolved very well about the nucleus, but no other part. From the right, and apparently springing from the nucleus, a very faint portion of nebulosity extends for about 15', gradually melting away. William Rambaut's (LdR's assistant) sketch on this night was published in the 1850 PT paper (fig. 7). On 25 Feb 1854, "Lord Rosse suspected dark spaces on either side of the nucleus.", though this suspicion wasn't confirmed the following year. William Lassell also sketched M65 using the 48" from Malta.
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11 18 50.9 +07 31 16; Leo
V = 13.9; Size 0.9'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 175°
17.5" (5/4/02): very faint, diffuse glow with a
brighter center. Halo fades into
background, ~40" diameter. A
mag 13 star lies 2.5' N. Forms a
close pair with
John Herschel discovered NGC 3624 = h855 on 27 Dec 1827 and
simply noted as "eF." His position matches
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NGC 3625 = UGC 6348 = MCG +10-16-120 = CGCG 291-057 = PGC 34718
11 20 31.2 +57 46 53; UMa
V = 13.1; Size 2.0'x0.6'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 148°
17.5" (3/19/88): faint, fairly small, very elongated NNW-SSE, weak concentration. Third of three with NGC 3613 20' NW and NGC 3619 9.4' W.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3625 = H. II-885 on 8 Apr 1793 (sweep 1038). He logged "faint, extended from np to sf, about 1 1/2' long." The NGC position from d'Arrest is accurate.
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11 20 03.9 +18 21 24; Leo
V = 11.0; Size 2.7'x1.9'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 157°
24" (5/27/17): at 200x; bright, fairly large, elongated 3:2 NNW-SSE, 2.0'x1.4', broadly concentrated halo with a larger brighter core and very low surface brightness outer halo. The core, though, is sharply concentrated with a very intense, quasi-stellar nucleus. Member of a group (LGG 237) that extends from NGC 3607/08 to NGC 3681/84/86.
16" LX200 (4/14/07): bright, fairly large, elongated
2:1 ~NNW-SSE. Sharply concentrated
with a small, very bright core that increases to a bright, stellar
nucleus.
17.5" (3/22/96): bright, moderately large, elongated 3:2 NNW-SSE, 1.8'x1.2'. Strong, sharp concentration with a very small elongated core and a bright stellar nucleus. Located roughly 50' ENE of the NGC 3607 group.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3626 = H. II-52 = h856 on 14
Mar 1784 (sweep 170) and noted "a nebula like the northern one [II-51 =
NGC 3608], but a little longish."
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11 20 15.0 +12 59 22; Leo
V = 8.9; Size 9.1'x4.2'; Surf Br = 12.7; PA = 173°
48" (4/13/10): this showpiece galaxy stretched 7'x3' N-S. The central region is dominated by a prominent, 3'x1.2' central bar that is elongated NNW-SSE. The central region has a mottled, irregular surface brightness and increases gradually towards the center and then suddenly to a very bright, stellar nucleus. A very faint star or HII knot was seen at the very north tip of the bar [confirmed as #44 in Hodge's "Second Survey of HII regions in Galaxies", ApJS, 27, 113 (1974)]. The longer, better defined arm is attached at the north end and sweeps directly south along the western flank of the galaxy for a total length of ~5'. The western edge of this arm is very well defined as it fades to the southern tip, though the inner edge merges with the glow within the central region. The arm and bar are brightest where they join at the north end of the central region. The second spiral arm is attached at the south end of the bar and shoots north on the eastern side of the galaxy. This arm fades after a shorter distance, so is not as prominent, but is brightest at the root where it emerges from the bar. A mag 9.8 star lies 3' NW of center at the outer edge of the halo.
17.5" (1/31/87): very bright, large, elongated N-S, 5'x3', bright elongated core contains a stellar nucleus. Two spiral arms are visible although the western arm is more prominent.
13.1" (many dates from 4/24/82 and 2/25/84): bright elongated core, stellar nucleus. A diffuse spiral arm extends south and a second short arm extends to the east. A dark patch is visible just east of the nucleus.
Charles Messier discovered M66 = NGC 3627 = h857 = h875, along with M65, on 1 Mar 1780.
William Herschel first logged M66 with his 18.7" on 8
Apr 1784 (sweep 187): "very bright, much elongated, much brighter in the
middle than its two faint branches which run out further than my field of view
can take in. It is
John Herschel made 4 observations and once claimed it as new (h875) as he made an error with his RA (3 minutes too large). On sweep 22 he logged "vB; vL; suddenly brighter middle; 3' l, 2' br; E 60° np to sf in direction of 2 stars 10m, preceding."
George Johnstone Stoney, Lord Rosse's assistant, sketched the galaxy on 17 Apr 1849 (Plate XXVII, fig. 16 in the 1861 publication). Features included a well defined spiral arm along the western side and arcs within the main body that correspond with brighter sections of spiral arms. The 31 Mar 1848 observation by Rosse or assistant Rambaut mentions "a little above towards the right [nf] is a dark streak; spiral, resolved well about the Nucl, but no other part. From the right, and apparently springing from the nucleus, a vF portion of nebulosity extends for nearly 15', gradually melting away." A schematic in the 1880 publication shows the beginning of two arms on the eastern side and a long, thick arm on the western side.
William Lassell also sketched M66 using his 48-inch from Malta on 21 Apr 1862, though misidentified it as M65. The galaxy was drawn as more irregular than spiral, though the primary arm on the west side is clearly sketched, along with a dark gap between it and the core. Also a loop was sketched on the north side corresponding with part of the eastern arm as well as a continuation of the western arm as it curls towards the core.
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NGC 3628 = Arp 317 NED3 = VV 308b = UGC 6350 = MCG +02-29-020 = CGCG 067-058 = Holm 246c = LGG 231-004 = PGC 34697 = Leo Triplet
11 20 16.2 +13 35 22; Leo
V = 9.5; Size 14.8'x3.0'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 104°
48" (5/12/18 and 4/29/22): at 375x; extremely bright, showpiece edge-on WNW-ESE, at least 13' in length. A stunning dust lane extends for over 8' and widens towards the ends. The northern "slice" of the galaxy is brighter with a broad concentration, but without a distinct core or nucleus. The surface brightness drops at both ends and flares out in width, instead of tapering. The WNW end spreads out in a wide cone, though the flaring is brighter north of the major axis, creating a bent asymmetry towards the north. A mag 16.5 star is along the N edge, at the brightest section, and a mag 15.5 star is 40" further NE. A brighter mag 14.8 star is along the ESE flank, 2.5' from center.
17.5" (1/31/87): bright, unusually large edge-on WNW-ESE, 11'x2.5'. A broad irregular dust lane is prominent bisecting the galaxy along the entire length. Appears brighter to the north of the dark lane and fainter on the south side.
13.1" (4/24/82 and 2/25/84): the dust lane was clearly visible along the entire length and divided the galaxy into two asymmetric halves with the south slice much fainter.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3628 = H. V-8 = h859 on 8 Apr 1784 (sweep 187) and recorded "Bright, very much elongated, little brighter in the middle than towards the ends. It seems to extend 9 or 10' if not more." The next sweep he observed the Leo Triplet again and called NGC 3628 "bright, very much elongated. The extent is not far from the parallel [E-W]. The faint branches are longer than my field can take in."
John Herschel called it "a v long narrow ray, very gradually brighter middle; 15' long, a most curious object. E by diag in pos 105°. Lord Rosse first observed NGC 3628 on 31 Mar or 1 Apr 1848. Samuel Hunter, observing on 10 Feb 1861, noted "split into two parallel rays." A month later he added "split extends its whole length, the f part being partially filled with faint nebulosity." Robert Ball, observing on 18 Mar 1866 also noted "there seems to be a dark channel on the south side in direction of elongation."
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11 20 31.7 +26 57 49; Leo
V = 12.1; Size 2.3'x1.6'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 30°
18" (3/29/03): faint, moderately large, slightly elongated, 1.2'x0.9', diffuse, low surface brightness, weak broad concentration. A mag 14 star is 1.1' SE of center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3629 = H. II-338 = h860 on 6 Apr 1785 (sweep 393) and recorded "vF, pL, r, nearly R, gradually very little brighter middle." John Herschel made a total of 7 observations with a composite description "F; L; R; very gradually brighter middle; 2' dia; *14 m s f 60"."
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11 20 17.0 +02 57 52; Leo
V = 11.9; Size 4.6'x3.0'; Surf Br = 14.6; PA = 37°
24" (5/20/20): at 375x; fairly bright, moderately large, very elongated 3:1 SW-NE, sharply concentrated with an intensely bright core and a much fainter disc, ~1.2'x0.4'
17.5" (4/4/92): fairly bright, fairly small, very
elongated 3:1 SW-NE, small but very bright core, stellar nucleus, thin
extensions. Located 10' NW of mag
8.3
8" (4/24/82): faint, small, elongated SW-NE, very small bright core. Located ~20' SW of NGC 3640.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3630 = h861 on 7 Apr 1828 and recorded "B; R suddenly much brighter middle to nucl: 25". His two positions are very similar. In the Slough Catalogue, he equated h861 with his father's H. II-32 but listed this object as a nova in the General Catalogue (GC).
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11 21 02.9 +53 10 10; UMa
V = 10.4; Size 5.0'x4.8'; Surf Br = 13.7
48" (4/4/11): beautiful face-on spiral of 4' diameter with two long, winding arms and branching extensions! This very bright galaxy appeared sharply concentrated with an intensely bright small core that increased to an extremely bright stellar nucleus. A prominent patchy arm was attached on the west side of the core and rotated counterclockwise to the north, then bent sharply back in a straight line to the east end of the galaxy. What appeared to be an offshoot arm turned counterclockwise on the east side and continued all the way to the south end of the galaxy. The second arm was attached on the southeast end of the core and swept around the south side towards the west and then continued to the northwest end of the galaxy. An offshoot or another patchy arm continued east near the edge of the northern halo. The two main arms are nearly connected by a slightly brighter region on the south side. Member of the LGG 241 or UMa NED1 Group.
17.5" (4/1/95): bright, large, round, 3.5' diameter. Sharp concentration with a prominent core which brightens to a nearly stellar nucleus. The outer halo fades into the background and shows a hint of the spiral arm structure. Two mag 12-13 stars are 3.4' NE and 3.3' WNW of center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3631 = I-226 on 14 Apr 1789 (sweep 920) and recorded "cB, R, small br nucl and vF halo of considerable extent, 3' or 4' dia."
Four observations describing spiral arms were made at Birr Castle. On 30 Mar 1856, R.J. Mitchell recorded "Spiral, with I think, two arms thus (thumbnail sketch). The arms are broken and of unequal light. There are bright patches at alpha (preceding the nucleus), beta (south preceding arm) and gamma (end of bright north following arm)." A week later he logged "Spirality seen as in last observation. The following branch comes down past the other, doubling over it and seems to originate from the preceeding side of nucleus. Very patchy."
The1880 publication has a thumbnail sketch and the 1861 publication has a drawing (Plate XXVII, fig 20). Both show the main features that can be confirmed on the DSS.
******************************
NGC 3632 = NGC 3626 = UGC 6343 = MCG +03-29-032 = CGCG 096-029 = PGC 34684
11 20 03.9 +18 21 24; Leo
See observing notes for NGC 3626.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3632 = H. II-30 on 15 Feb 1784 (sweep 146) and described a "pB neb, it seems to contain stars; it is of some extent." There is nothing at his position (objects found in his early sweeps often have fairly large offset errors), but 24 seconds of RA west and 12' N is NGC 3626. Dreyer states in his 1912 revision of Herschel's catalogues, "not seen by d'Arrest (5 times), is no doubt [II-30] = II 52 = NGC 3626 only 24 seconds preceding and 12' N." Herschel observed II-52 a month later on 14 Mar 1784 (sweep 170) and called it "a neb like II 51 but a little longish." So, NGC 3632 = NGC 3626. Dreyer's conclusion was repeated by Karl Reinmuth in his photographic survey of the NGC.
******************************
11 20 26.2 +03 35 08; Leo
V = 13.6; Size 1.2'x0.4'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 72°
17.5" (4/4/92): faint, fairly small, very elongated 3:1
WSW-ENE, weak concentration. A mag
14 star is off the west edge.
Located 3.5' WSW of mag 8.9
Lewis Swift discovered NGC 3633 = Sw. 6-40 on 23 Mar 1887
and reported "vF; S; R; nearly between a pB star and a faint
star." His position and
description matches
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11 20 30.3 -09 00 51; Crt
V = 14.5; Size 0.7'x0.5'; Surf Br = 11.7
24" (3/9/13): faint, extremely small, round,
8"-10" diameter.
Situated at the west edge of brighter
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3634 = LM 2-433, along
with NGC 3635, on 24 Jan 1887. His
(single) position is very close to the double system
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NGC 3635 = VV 724 = MCG -01-29-009 = PGC 34717
11 20 31.4 -09 00 49; Crt
V = 13.4; Size 1.7'x0.6'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 18°
24" (3/9/13): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 3:2 ~N-S, 30"x20", very small brighter nucleus. NGC 3634, a very compact interacting companion, is attached on the west edge. A mag 13.5 star lies 0.9' W.
17.5" (4/14/01): faint, small, elongated 3:2 NNW-SSE, 0.7'x0.4', weak concentration. NGC 3634 was not seen. A mag 14.5 star lies 1' W.
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3635 = LM 2-434, along with NGC 3634, on 24 Jan 1887. His (single) position is very close to the double system MCG -01-29-008 and -009.
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11 20 25.1 -10 16 55; Crt
V = 12.4; Size 1.3'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.0
17.5" (3/29/89): moderately bright, very small, bright
core, round. Located just 1.8' NW
of mag 6.6
William Herschel discovered NGC 3636 = H. II-550 = h862, along with NGC 3637, on 4 Mar 1786 (sweep 597). He recorded them together as "Two, stellar, vF, vS. A considerable bright star is situated between them, but about 1' south of the line that connects them."
Andrew Ainslie Common found the pair again in 1880 and reported them as new in his Copernicus discovery list: "2 planetary nebulae, B star between" in his Copernicus discovery.
******************************
NGC 3637 = MCG -02-29-020 = LGG 235-002 = PGC 34731
11 20 39.5 -10 15 27; Crt
V = 12.7; Size 1.6'x1.5'; Surf Br = 13.6
17.5" (3/29/89): moderately bright, very small, bright core, round. Located 3.0' NE of mag 6.6 SAO 156618. Forms a pair with NGC 3636 3.8' WSW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3637 = H. II-551 = h863, along with NGC 3636, on 4 Mar 1786 (sweep 597). He recorded them together as "Two, stellar, vF, vS. A considerable bright star is situated between them, but about 1' south of the line that connects them."
Andrew Ainslie Common rediscovered the pair in 1880 and reported them as new in his Copernicus discovery list: "2 planetary nebulae, B star between"
******************************
11 20 10.0 -08 06 21; Crt
V = 13.4; Size 2.2'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.7; PA = 141°
17.5" (5/4/02): faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1 NW-SE, 1.2'x0.6', brighter along the major axis. With averted vision, there are hints of longer extensions. Forms the western vertex of a right triangle with two mag 12 stars 3.4' E and 4.3' NE.
Ormond Stone discovered NGC 3638 = L II-435 in 1886 and
logged "mag 15.8, 0.4' dia, 2 star 10m following." His position is 0.6 min of RA east of
******************************
NGC 3639 = UGC 6374 = MCG +03-29-036 = CGCG 096-032 = PGC 34819
11 21 35.7 +18 27 30; Leo
V = 13.7; Size 0.6'x0.5'; Surf Br = 12.3; PA = 27°
16" LX200 (4/14/07): faint, small, elongated 4:3 ~N-S, occasional very faint stellar nucleus with direct vision. Located 2' N of a mag 12 star.
Birr Castle assistant R.J. Mitchell discovered NGC 3639 on
21 Jan 1855. He logged "about 15' following [NGC 3626] and a little north
is a neb. S, R, pF, very little
brighter middle." Dreyer
added the comment "d'Arrest could not see [NGC 3639], perhaps the
observation from 1855 was of some other neb. in this neighborhood." But the position matches
******************************
NGC 3640 = UGC 6368 = MCG +01-29-033 = CGCG 039-130 = PGC 34778
11 21 06.8 +03 14 05; Leo
V = 10.4; Size 4.0'x3.2'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 100°
24" (5/20/20): at 375x; very bright, fairly large,
slightly elongated, 2' diameter, strong concentration with an intense oval
core. The nucleus is small, round
and very bright. Forms a very
close pair with
17.5" (2/8/91): bright, moderately large, small very bright core, oval halo 3:2 E-W, 15" substellar mottled nucleus. A mag 14 star is 2.3' N. Brightest in a group and forms a close pair with NGC 3641 2.5' SSE.
14.5" (4/12/21): at 182x and 226x; fairly bright, moderately large, oval halo ~5:4 E-W of low surface brightness, ~2.0'x1.6'. Strongly and sharply concentrated with an unusually bright core that increases steadily to a nearly stellar nucleus.
8" (4/24/82): bright, moderately large, bright core, slightly elongated.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3640 = H. II-33 = h864 on 23 Feb 1784 (sweep 158) and logged "a nebula like the former [pB, bM, vS], but a good deal larger and more regular; almost cometic." His RA is poor (not uncommon in the early sweeps) -- 50 seconds too large -- but there are no other bright nearby galaxies. John Herschel logged "B; R; pretty suddenly brighter middle; 30"." and measured an accurate position.
******************************
NGC 3641 = UGC 6370 = MCG +01-29-034 = PGC 34780
11 21 08.8 +03 11 40; Leo
V = 13.4; Size 1.1'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.3
24" (5/20/20): at 375x; between pretty faint and moderately bright, round, 40" diameter, sharp concentration with a small bright nucleus. The halo seems more extensive to the south of the nucleus. Located 2.6' SSE of the center of much brighter and larger NGC 3640.
17.5" (2/8/91): faint, very small, round, faint stellar nucleus. Forms a close pair with bright NGC 3640 2.6' NNW.
14.5" (4/12/21): at 226x; nearly fairly faint, small, round, 30" diameter, small brighter nucleus. A mag 12 star is 3' SW.
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3641 = m 220 = T. 1-34 on 22 Mar
1865 and noted "F, vS, alm stell." His position matches
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11 22 17.9 +59 04 28; UMa
V = 11.2; Size 5.4'x4.5'; Surf Br = 14.5; PA = 105°
17.5" (3/19/88): bright, fairly large, round, even concentration down to a very bright core, faint stellar nucleus. Appears mottled (knot?) on the west side of the core.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3642 = H. I-245 = h865 on 18
Mar 1790 (sweep 951) and noted "p or cB, pS, R, very gradually brighter
middle." His position is
within 1' of the center of
******************************
11 21 25.0 +03 00 50; Leo
V = 14.1; Size 0.8'x0.3'; Surf Br = 12.4
24" (5/20/20 and 5/24/20): fairly faint, elongated 2:1 ~E-W, brighter core, 40"x20", overall fairly low surface brightness. A mag 13.2 star is 1' SE of center.
SN 2020hvf, a Type Ia supernova in NGC 3643, was discovered about a month ago (Apr 21) at 22" E of center (at the east edge of the galaxy). At 13th magnitude, the SN was similar in brightness to the mag 13.2 star just 45" to its SSE, and was bright enough to detract from viewing the galaxy!
17.5" (4/4/92): very faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1
NW-SE. A mag 13 star is at the SE
edge 1.0' from center.
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3643 = m 221, along with NGC
3644, on 22 Mar 1865 and noted "eF, vS". His position matches
The RNGC misidentifies
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NGC 3644 = IC 684 = UGC 6373 = MCG +01-29-037 = CGCG 039-139 = PGC 34814
11 21 32.9 +02 48 37; Leo
V = 14.0; Size 1.5'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.8; PA = 63°
24" (5/20/20): at 375x; fairly faint, fairly small,
oval 2:1 SW-NE, broad weak concentration.
A mag 12.5 star is just off the SW edge.
IC 683: faint, round, 20" diameter, very small brighter nucleus.
CGCG 039-134: extremely faint, round, 15" diameter, only occasionally popped
48" (4/4/11): moderately bright, moderately large, elongated 5:2 SW-NE, 40"x16", contains a bright core. A mag 12.5 star is 40" SSW of center. Shkh 352, a rich group of faint galaxies, lies 5' N in the field.
17.5" (4/4/92): faint, small, elongated 3:2 WSW-ENE. A mag 13 star is at the SW edge 0.6' from center. Located 12' ESE of mag 8.3 SAO 118800 in the NGC 3640 group with NGC 3643 12' N. A very faint quartet of galaxies is midway between NGC 3644 and NGC 3643.
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3644 = m 222 on 22 Mar 1865 and
noted "vF, vS." His
position matches
Guillaume Bigourdan found this galaxy on 14 Apr 1888 and
assumed it was new, and recorded #163 as a "small nebula with a mag 12.8
situated in PA 214° at 0.5'." His position is a bit off to the north and
Dreyer recatalogued this galaxy as
******************************
11 20 17.0 +02 57 52; Leo
See observing notes for NGC 3630.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3645 = H. II-32 = h867 on 23 Feb 1784 (sweep 158) and recorded "pB, vS, bM so that it resembles an irregular nebulous star." His position, reduced correctly by Caroline, falls 3' south of NGC 3643 (much too faint to fit his description), in a group of very faint galaxies. But it is also 70 seconds of RA due east of NGC 3630, a bright galaxy that fits the description. John Herschel has a single observation, giving a very rough position (near his father's) but the description of h867 ("pB; S; E; bM") applies to NGC 3630. In fact, JH suggested the equivalence in the GC, though Dreyer rejected this in the NGC Notes section because Tempel claimed an observation of NGC 3645 (h867).
The identification of H. II-32 was analyzed by Malcolm Thomson in the Webb Society Quarterly Journal #73, Alister Ling in issue #87 and Harold Corwin in his NGC/IC identification notes. They all conclude that NGC 3645 is likely a duplicate observation of NGC 3630. RNGC and CGCG misidentify CGCG 039-143 as NGC 3645.
******************************
NGC 3646 = UGC 6376 = MCG +03-29-037 = CGCG 096-034 = PGC 34836
11 21 43.1 +20 10 10; Leo
V = 11.1; Size 3.9'x2.2'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 50°
48" (5/16/12 and 4/6/13): this showpiece spiral appeared bright, large, oval ~2:1 SW-NE, sharply concentrated with a very bright core. The visual treat was a prominent lens or eye-shaped ring surrounding the core! The ring was slightly brighter in an arc along the north side. At the west edge of this arc was a very faint quasi-stellar knot (SDSS J112141.34+201039.0, V = 17.2). Another section of the ring that stands out is along the southwest edge, with a brighter linear piece about 40" long that has several SDSS designations. The interior of the ring is fairly dark near this section as well as other sections, providing a good contrast between the core and ring. A very small, weak brightening was also noted on the northeast end of the ring. A mag 14 star lies 1.4' NW of center and a mag 16 star is 1' SSE of center.
17.5" (4/14/01): moderately bright, fairly large, elongated 3'x2' SW-NE. Gradually increases to a brighter 30" oval core. A quasi-stellar nucleus is occasionally visible with direct vision. Forms a pair with NGC 3649 7.8' ENE.
13.1": moderately bright and large, elongated, broad concentration with no nucleus. An extremely faint star or knot is involved.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3646 = H. III-15 = h866 on 15 Feb 1784 (sweep 146) and recorded "Two, a Large nebula [NGC 3646] followed by a small one [NGC 3649], in the same field of view with it. The large one is extremely and small one still fainter, so that I did not perceive it immediately. I suppose the large one cannot be less than 5 or 6' of extent." Earlier in the sweep he discovered the pair NGC 3226 and 3227.
John Herschel logged "F; L; E; 2' long. The sp of two [with NGC 3649]."
Bindon Stoney, Lord Rosse's assistant on 13 Apr 1852, remarked "L neb [NGC 3646] is bM. It has a knot in sp end and a dark curved passage on p and n sides of centre; Spiral." This description is similar to the view in Jimi Lowrey's 48".
******************************
11 21 32.6 +02 53 14; Leo
V = 14.6; Size 0.6'x0.45'; PA = 73°
24" (5/20/20): at 375x; faint, fairly small, slightly
elongated E-W, 20"x15", low surface brightness. Brightest in a quartet with
48" (4/4/11): fairly faint, small, round, 18"
diameter, small bright nucleus.
First in the dense Shkh 352 cluster (7 members within 2') with 6
galaxies close following including Shkh 352-6 0.8' SE,
Shkh 352-2: fairly faint, very small, round, 14"
diameter, very small bright nucleus.
Located 0.8' NE of NGC 3647 (Shkh 352-1) in a dense group of compact
galaxies.
Shkh 352-3:
faint, very small, round, 14" diameter. In a very rich, group of faint, compact ellipticals with
Shkh 352-4: fairly faint, very small, round, 12", very small bright nucleus. Located 0.9' NE of CGCG 39-140 = Shkh 352-2 and 0.7' N of Shkh 352-3 in the core of this compact cluster. Shkh 352-7 lies 45" ESE.
Shkh 352-5: extremely faint and small, 6" diameter. Furthest north in tight group of 7
members of Shkh 352, packed into a 2' circle. Located 42" N of
Shkh 352-6: very faint, extremely small, round, 6" diameter. This member of Shkh 352 forms the southern vertex of a tiny quadrilateral with NGC 3647 = CGCG 39-135 0.8' NW, CGCG 39-140 0.7' N and CGCG 39-141 1' NE!
Shkh 352-7: faint, extremely small, round, 6" diameter, bright stellar nucleus. Located 40" NE of Shkh 352-3 and 45" ESE of CGCG 039-142 = Shkh 352-4.
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3647 = m 223 on 22 Mar 1865 and
noted an "eF neb. star."
His position falls in a tight quartet including
Various modern sources pick all four of these compact galaxies as NGC 3647! NED, HyperLeda and NGC/IC Project (Corwin) identifies CGCG 039-141 as NGC 3647, CGCG identifies CGCG 039-142 as NGC 3647, and the RNGC position falls on CGCG 039-140. But CGCG 039-135 is the brightest visually in the quartet! So, although the identification is uncertain with 4 close candidates, the 2014 version of Harold Corwin's NGC positions file also identifies CGCG 039-135 as NGC 3647.
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11 22 31.5 +39 52 37; UMa
V = 12.6; Size 1.3'x0.8'; Surf Br = 12.5; PA = 75°
18" (5/30/03): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated
3:2 WSW-ENE, 0.9'x0.6'. Contains a
small, round, bright core with a quasi-stellar nucleus. Located 18' S of mag 6.6
John Herschel discovered NGC 3648 = h868 on 18 Mar 1831 and noted "pB; pmE; S; has a suspicious nucleus, as if a vF close double star." The coordinates are marked uncertain, but his position is just 1' S.
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NGC 3649 = UGC 6386 = MCG +03-29-038 = CGCG 096-036 = IC 682 = PGC 34883
11 22 14.8 +20 12 30; Leo
V = 13.7; Size 1.2'x0.6'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 140°
17.5" (4/14/01): faint, small, elongated 3:2 SW-NE, 0.6'x0.4' (viewed oval core only). A mag 14.5 star is just off the south edge [23" from center]. Forms a pair with NGC 3646 7.8' WSW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3649 = H. III-16 = h869, along with NGC 3646 (see notes), on 15 Feb 1784 (sweep 146). John Herschel made two observations of the pair and his mean position is fairly accurate.
Lewis Swift possibly found the galaxy on 22 Apr 1889. He assumed it was new and recorded it in his 8th discovery list, #56 (later IC 682) with description "eF; eS; R; vF * close np." There is nothing at his position, but 1.0 min of RA east is NGC 3649 and the description applies.
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11 22 35.4 +20 42 15; Leo
V = 13.9; Size 1.7'x0.3'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 54°
17.5" (4/14/01): fairly faint, fairly small, edge-on 5:1 SW-NE, 1.0'x0.2', irregular surface brightness, small brighter core. Situated 2.7' SE of a mag 11 star.
Lewis Swift discovered NGC 3650 = Sw. 3-60 on 5 Mar 1886 and
noted "eF; S; R; between 2 stars." His position is 16 sec of RA west of
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11 22 26.3 +24 17 56; Leo
V = 13.2; Size 1.1'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.4
48" (4/18/15): NGC 3651 is the brightest member of the
17.5" (5/11/96): this is the brightest member of the
HCG 51 quintet. Fairly faint,
fairly small, slightly elongated N-S, 1.0'x0.8', small brighter core. Forms a small isosceles triangle with
NGC 3653 (51C) 1.4' SE and
MCG +04-27-026 is very faint, fairly small, elongated 3:2 N-S, 0.9'x0.6', very weak concentration. Larger of close pair with IC 2759 1.0' N but has a significantly lower surface brightness. Modern catalogues misidentify this galaxy as IC 2759. IC 2759 is faint, very small, round, 20" diameter, moderate surface brightness. Finally MCG +04-27-030 is extremely faint and small, 12" diameter. It's the faintest of five in HCG 51.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3651 = H. III-335 = h870, along with NGC 3653, on 10 Apr 1785 (sweep 394). His description reads, "Two, both vF and vS. The most south [NGC 3653] is the faintest. I saw them both very well with 240. About 2 or 3' from each other." John Herschel noted "F; R; gradually brighter in the middle; the np of 2."
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11 22 39.0 +37 45 54; UMa
V = 12.2; Size 2.0'x0.7'; Surf Br = 12.4; PA = 150°
18" (5/30/03): moderately bright, moderately large, elongated 2:1 NNW-SSE, 1.0'x0.5'. Contains a bulging core and much fainter extensions.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3652 = H. II-775 = h871 on 23 Mar 1789 (sweep 915). He logged "pB, cL, lE, very gradually much brighter middle." NGC 3652 was discovered by WH (II 775). John Herschel noted (single observation) "F; pL; wires visible in twilight."
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NGC 3653 = HCG 51C = MCG +04-27-029 = CGCG 126-044 = Holm 249b = PGC 34905
11 22 30.1 +24 16 45; Leo
V = 13.6; Size 0.9'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 85°
48" (4/18/15): moderately bright, fairly small, elongated 3:2 ~E-W, 0.6'x0.4', sharply concentrated with a very small bright core. NGC 3653 is the second brightest member of HCG 51 with slightly brighter NGC 3651 (and companions) 1.5' NW.
17.5" (5/11/96): faint, small, slightly elongated E-W, 30" diameter, stellar nucleus. Second brightest in HCG 51 quintet with brightest member NGC 3651 1.4' NW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3653 = H. III-336 = h872, along with NGC 3651, on 10 Apr 1785 (sweep 394). His description reads, "Two, both vF and vS. The most south [NGC 3653] is the faintest. I saw them both very well with 240x. About 2 or 3' from each other." John Herschel noted "vF; the sf of 2." His position was 45" too far SE.
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11 24 10.9 +69 24 47; UMa
V = 12.7; Size 1.2'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.3; PA = 27°
17.5" (4/22/95): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1 SW-NE, brighter along the major axis, very small bright core. Situated midway betwen a mag 12 star 3.1' NE and a mag 13 star 3.4' SW of center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3654 = H. II-880 on 6 Apr 1793 (sweep 1036). He recorded "faint, small, little extended from sp to nf, brighter middle." Another observation was made on 7 Dec 1801 (sweep 1105), noting "faint, small, little extended from sp to nf but not far from the meridian, gradually brighter middle."
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11 22 54.7 +16 35 24; Leo
V = 11.6; Size 1.5'x1.0'; Surf Br = 12.0; PA = 30°
24" (5/27/17): at 200x; bright, large, oval 4:3 SSW-NNE, very well concentrated with a relatively large bright core and an intensely bright small nucleus. Member of a group (LGG 237) that includes NGC 3681, 3684 and 3686.
17.5" (4/15/93): fairly bright, fairly small, elongated 3:2 SSW-NNE, prominent core, stellar nucleus, fainter extensions, high surface brightness. A mag 12.5 star is 2.5' ENE.
8" (4/24/82): fairly bright, bright core, slightly elongated. Located 45' WNW of a mag 6 star.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3655 = H. I-5 = h873 on 30 Dec 1783 (early sweep 71) and recorded "A nebula. F, not of the cometic kind, but seem to be resolvable. It is of a roundish shape, but not regular." John Herschel made three observations and measured an accurate position.
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11 23 38.5 +53 50 32; UMa
V = 12.5; Size 1.6'x1.6'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 7°
48" (4/6/13): bright, moderately large, irregularly round, ~1.3'x1.0', large very bright core but no distinct nucleus. A mag 12.7 star is just off the west edge of a large, diffuse halo. A dust lane or absorption patch is evident on the north side as a region of lower surface brightness.
18" (5/30/03): moderately bright, round, fairly small, 0.8' diameter, fairly weak concentration with a brighter core. A mag 12 star is just off the west side, 45" from center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3656 = H. II-782 = h874 on 14 Apr 1789 (sweep 920). He recorded "pB, S, R, very gradually much brighter middle, just following a small star." John Herschel logged "pB; R; very gradually little brighter middle; 20"; a * 12m preceding." and measured a very accurate position.
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11 23 55.6 +52 55 15; UMa
V = 12.4; Size 1.4'x1.4'; Surf Br = 13.1
18" (5/30/03): moderately bright, fairly small, round, 0.7' diameter, small bright core. Member of the LGG 241 or UMa NED1 Group.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3657 = H. III-768 = h876 on 12 Apr 1789 (sweep 919). He noted "very faint, very small, stellar, left doubtful." His declination was 3' too far south but John Herschel measured accurate position (used in the NGC).
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11 23 58.3 +38 33 45; UMa
V = 12.2; Size 1.6'x1.5'; Surf Br = 13.0
18" (5/30/03): moderately bright, moderately large,
round, 1.0' diameter, small bright core, symmetrical appearance. Located 15' SW of
William Herschel discovered NGC 3658 = H. IV-59 = h877 on 23 Mar 1789 (sweep 915). His description reads, "considerably bright, small, round, bright nucleus. The nucleus considerably well defined, and the chevelure [halo] very faint." The description was included in his 1791 paper on "Nebulous Stars." and he was confident of the connection between the star and the nebulosity.
John Herschel made two observations and noted, "Nothing remarkable in its character to place it in the 4th class." The fourth class included planetary nebulae, but also oddballs such as "stars with burs, with milky chevelure, with short rays, remarkable shapes etc." About 40 seconds later he discovered NGC 3665.
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11 23 45.3 +17 49 04; Leo
V = 12.3; Size 2.1'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 60°
13.1" (4/10/86): fairly faint, fairly small, weak concentration, elongated WSW-ENE. Member of the LGG 237 group.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3659 = H. II-53 = h878 on 14 Mar 1784 (sweep 170) and noted "F, S, r." John Herschel measured an accurate position.
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11 23 32.2 -08 39 31; Crt
V = 11.9; Size 2.9'x2.2'; Surf Br = 13.7; PA = 110°
48" (4/21/17): at 697x and 813x; this multi-armed barred spiral appeared bright, large, oval 4:3 WNW-ESE, ~2.8'x2.1'. The core consists of fairly narrow bar oriented NNW-SSE with a bright quasi-stellar nucleus at the center. Subtle spiral structure was evident in the halo with a couple of long spiral arcs, though the contrast was too low to distinguish complete arms. A mag 11.5 star is 2' NE of center and three mag 10-12.5 star are ~5' E.
48" (5/12/12): fairly bright, large, oval 5:4 WNW-ESE,
~2.5'x2.0', well concentrated with a bright, elongated core that seems to
contains a brighter bar. The outer
halo fades out gradually and increases in size with averted vision. LEDA 1000714 (Ring Galaxy) lies 4' W
and
18" (3/19/04): fairly faint, fairly large, round, ~2'
diameter with averted vision, broad concentration but then suddenly increases
to a small nucleus. A faint star
is off the west edge 1' from center.
A trio of mag 10-12 stars follows by ~5'. Located 19' NE of mag 6.9
William Herschel discovered NGC 3660 = H. II-635 on 22 Feb
1787 (sweep 705) and noted "F, pL, irregularly round, very gradually
brighter middle." His
position matches
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11 23 38.4 -13 49 51; Crt
V = 14.0; Size 1.7'x0.8'; Surf Br = 14.2; PA = 137°
17.5" (3/29/89): faint, very elongated NW-SE. A string of three mag 11 stars begins
1.6' S and continues to the SE.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3661 = H. III-530 = h3339 on 27 Mar 1786 (sweep 548) and noted "vF, stellar." His position is 2' due south of MCG -02-29-022 = PGC 34986. John Herschel described NGC 3661 as "faint; small; round; gradually brighter middle." The preceding of 2 [with NGC 3667]."
Ormond Stone found the galaxy again on 1 Jan 1889 with the
26-inch at the Leander-McCormick Observatory and assumed it was new. His micrometric position (#421 in the
LM Southern Nebulae list) matches
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11 23 45.6 -01 06 12; Leo
V = 12.9; Size 1.4'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 25°
17.5" (5/4/02): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 4:3 ~SSW-NNE, 1.0'x0.7'. There is a fairly bright star ~mag 13.5 which is superimposed about 10" NE from the geometric center and appears similar to a bright stellar nucleus.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3662 = H. IV-4 = h879 on 22 Feb 1784 (sweep 153). He recorded "an extremely faint nebula, consisting of a nucleus with a vF, S, brush south preceding. The brush is not regularly fan shaped." He sketched it as a fan with a stellar point at the W end. Herschel commented in his 1814 PT paper (fig. 5) that "a very small star has an extremely faint and very small nebula attached to it in the shape of a puff.". He gave this example as evidence of a union of attraction between the nebula and the star. John Herschel called this object a "star 13-14 m with a F, S, nebulous brush."
Wolfgang Steinicke, in "Observing and Cataloguing Nebulae and Star Clusters" states Julius Schmidt found NGC 3662 on 29 Mar 1862 with a 15.7-cm refractor and described an "exceedingly faint, object with slight central condensation." There was a controversy involving a number of observers whether this was a "variable nebula" (like NGC 1555) as either this galaxy or a nearby star appeared in the BD catalogue (BD -1° 2436) and marked as a nebula. Involved in the controversy were Julius Schmidt, d'Arrest, Hermann Goldschmidt, C.H.F. Peters and Argelander. The end result is that Argelander found a mistake occurred in the BD entry and the star should not have been marked as nebulous.
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11 23 59.8 -12 17 47; Crt
V = 12.5; Size 2.1'x1.6'; Surf Br = 13.7; PA = 85°
17.5" (3/29/89): faint, fairly small, oval E-W, low even surface brightness. Two mag 13 and 15 stars are at the NE edge 39" and 57" from the center, respectively.
Andrew Ainslie Common discovered NGC 3663 in 1880 with his
36" silvered-glass reflector and recorded "eF, fan-shaped, star
close". There is nothing at
his position but 15' north is
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11 24 24.8 +03 19 39; Leo
V = 12.8; Size 2.0'x1.9'; Surf Br = 14.1
48" (5/12/12): This disrupted spiral was a fascinating sight in Jimi Lowrey's 48-inch. The brightest feature is a very knotty 1' irregular bar oriented SW-NE, containing at least three brighter knots. The brightest knot is at the northeast end with at least two very close knots on the southwest side. A very short offshoot extends just north of the northeast end. Fainter haze surrounds the bar on the NW and SE sides.
The second brightest feature is a detached, mottled "arm segment" on the southwest side that's oddly cocked (NW-SE) perpendicular to the bar. As it appeared detached from the bar, it didn't seem like it was part of a spiral feature. But this arm segment dims significantly and continues curving clockwise around the south and east side, making a low surface brightness outer loop or ring, reaching around to the other side of the bar! Then I realized the bar was noticeably offset towards the northwest side within a rounder 1.6' outline.
17.5" (5/4/02): fairly large, low surface brightness glow with just a weak concentration, ~2' diameter. Nearly collinear with a wide pair of mag 10.5/12.5 stars 3' SE with a mag 10.5 star 7' NW also on this line. In addition, three mag 13 stars to the east are collinear! Located 20' W of a mag 6.7 star. This Arp galaxy has an unusual extension that juts at a 90° angle from the main body.
13.1" (4/10/86): very faint, slightly elongated ~N-S. Two stars lie SE and a bright star (82 Leo) is ~20' E.
Wilhelm Tempel discovered NGC 3664 on 14 Mar 1879 with the 11-inch refractor at the Arcetri Observatory in Italy. He called it a double nebula with the two nuclei separated by 15"-20", so he resolved the two brightest "knots" along the central bar. The discovery was reported in a short note in AN 94, p. 335.
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NGC 3665 = UGC 6426 = MCG +07-24-003 = CGCG 214-004 = LGG 236-004 = PGC 35064
11 24 43.7 +38 45 47; UMa
V = 10.8; Size 2.5'x2.0'; Surf Br = 12.4; PA = 30°
18" (5/30/03): bright, fairly large, elongated 3:2 SSW-NNE, 2.4'x1.6', strong concentration with a very bright core which increases to the center. A mag 14.5 star lies 1.6' N of center, outside the halo. NGC 3658 lies 15' SW.
17.5" (5/2/92): very bright, fairly large, elongated 2:1 SSW-NNE, 2.5'x1.3', increases to very bright core, stellar nucleus, fainter elongated halo. A mag 15 star is off the north edge.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3665 = H. I-219 = h881 on 23 Mar 1789 (sweep 915). He recorded "very bright, considerably large, very gradually much brighter middle, irregular figure." About 40 seconds earlier he had discovered NGC 3658, situtated 15' SSW. A sketch (fig. 20) was including in his 1811 publication as representative of "Nebulae that are gradually much brighter in the middle."
John Herschel made two observations, first logging it on 18 Mar 1831 (sweep 335) as "very bright; round; pretty gradually much brighter middle; 50"; resolvable."
The RNGC has a typo in the declination, which is listed as 2 deg 54' instead of 38 deg 54'.
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11 24 26.2 +11 20 31; Leo
V = 12.0; Size 4.4'x1.2'; Surf Br = 13.7; PA = 100°
13.1" (4/10/86): fairly faint, elongated ~E-W, bright core, sharper light cut off on the east side. A mag 14 star is 1.5' NNE of center. Located 9' SW of mag 5.8 Rho (30) Virginis.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3666 = H. I-20 = h882 on 15
Mar 1784 (sweep 174) and noted "Extended, resolvable. A very bright star may be taken into
the field with it." The
"very bright" star is mag 5.8
John Herschel observed it on 3 sweeps, first on 23 Mar 1830 (sweep 242): "eF; 2nd or 3rd class. The bright star 1341 A.S.C. follows it. This neb must have changed greatly if it ever belonged really to the 1st class."
Winnecke wrote a paper in 1879 (AN 2293) claiming this nebula displayed "periodic variability". As "proof" Winnecke mentioned that William Herschel placed this nebula in his first class of "Bright Nebula", but John Herschel called it "eF, 2nd or 3rd class." Winnecke described it as "pretty bright", while d'Arrest in 1863 termed it "subobscura". Dreyer found it barely visible in 1887 with a 10-inch Grubb refractor at Armagh but in 1891 he it appeared bright.
Dreyer was critical of reports of variability of nebulae in general and commented in an 1891 paper: "this is a diffused nebula with a very slight central condensation" and "the appearance of objects of this kind is far more influenced by the state of our atmosphere than that of nebulae with a distinct condensation." Wolfgang Steinicke discusses these cases on page 519 of his book on the history of the NGC.
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NGC 3667 = (R)
11 24 17.0 -13 51 26; Crt
V = 12.7; Size 1.5'x1.0'; Surf Br = 12.4; PA = 85°
17.5" (3/29/89): moderately bright, very small, round, small bright nucleus. Forms a close pair with NGC 3667A = MCG -02-29-026 1.1' E. The companion appeared faint, very small, round, low surface brightness. NGC 3661 lies 10' W.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3667 = H. III-531 = h3340 on 27 Mar 1786 (sweep 548). He noted "considerably faint, very little brighter in the middle, stellar." John Herschel recorded "pF; R; 20"; has 3 stars 10 mag near it, with the two following of which it makes an equilateral triangle.
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11 25 30.4 +63 26 46; UMa
V = 12.3; Size 1.7'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 137°
17.5" (4/22/95): moderately bright, moderately large, elongated 3:2 NW-SE, 1.5'x1.0', mottled appearance. Well concentrated with an elongated core and a bright nucleus. A mag 15 star is superimposed at the northwest end 0.6' from center. Located 2.6' NE of a mag 10 star.
Forms a pair with
William Herschel discovered NGC 3668 = H. II-845 = h880 on
20 Mar 1790 (sweep 954) and noted "vF, pS." His position (Caroline's reduction) is 14 sec of RA west of
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11 25 26.7 +57 43 17; UMa
V = 12.4; Size 2.2'x0.5'; Surf Br = 12.5; PA = 153°
17.5" (3/19/88): fairly faint, moderately large, edge-on 4:1 NNW-SSE, even surface brightness.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3669 = H. II-829 = h883 on 18 Mar 1790 (sweep 951) and noted "vF, E, easily resolvable." His position is accurate. John Herschel made a single observation and logged "vF; mE; very little brighter middle; 60" length."
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11 24 49.7 +23 56 43; Leo
V = 13.5; Size 1.1'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 35°
18" (5/31/03): fairly faint, fairly small, slightly elongated SW-NE, 0.7'x0.5'. Moderate concentration with faint extensions and a small, brighter core.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3670 = H. III-337 = h884 on
10 Apr 1785 (sweep 394) and noted "vF, S." His single position (Caroline's reduction) is 4' northwest
of
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11 25 52.5 +60 28 46; UMa
V = 14.7; Size 0.6'x0.5'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 10°
17.5" (3/19/88): extremely faint and small, round. A mag 14.5 star is close east.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3671 = H. III-922 = h885 on 9 Apr 1793 (sweep 1039). He noted "very faint, very small, 2 very small stars in it." One of these "small stars" is probably the nucleus. This galaxy is certainly one of the faintest and smallest discovered by Herschel.
John Herschel's position matches
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11 25 02.5 -09 47 40; Crt
V = 11.4; Size 4.2'x1.9'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 8°
14.5" (4/13/23): at 158x; fairly bright, large,
elongated 2:1 N-S and 5:2 with averted, ~3.0'x1.3'. Contains a large brighter
middle (about 1.5' diameter) with weak concentration and no nucleus. The
surface brightness is irregular or mottled. Spiral structure is suggested with
the fainter southern portion of the halo enhanced in a thinner arc.
17.5" (3/29/89): fairly bright, fairly large, oval 2:1 N-S, weakly concentrated to the center. Brightest in a small group that includes NGC 3636 and 3637 (LGG 235 = USGC S165).
8" (5/21/82): faint, diffuse. Located 20' W of a mag 7.5 star.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3672 = H. I-131 = h886 on 4 Mar 1786 (sweep 597) and reocorded "cB, E, 4 or 5' long and near 4' broad, gradually brighter in the middle."
Andrew Ainslie Common probably found this galaxy in 1880 with his 36" reflector, assumed it was new, and reported #17 as "pB, L, bM, E 180°" in his Copernicus discovery list. On 15 Feb 1868, C.E. Burton (observer at Birr Castle) recorded, "Sharper faint than p, curved horn towards sf? Deep concavity on faint side, poiints of light suspected on nucleus." This detailed description appears to confuse the E-W directions.
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11 25 12.8 -26 44 12; Hya
V = 11.5; Size 3.6'x2.4'; Surf Br = 13.7; PA = 70°
18" (3/19/04): moderately bright, moderately large,
elongated 3:2 ~E-W, 2.0'x1.4', broad concentration to halo. Appears brighter along the major axis
like a bar (verified on the DSS) with a very small brighter core. Two mag 11.5 and 13 stars following
closely, 2' and 1.5' from the center.
Located 8' N of mag 8.7
18" (3/19/04): moderately bright, fairly large, elongated nearly 2:1 WSW-ENE. Contains a bright 45" elongated core embedded in a much faint halo, ~2.5'x1.5'. Within the halo is the strong impression of a bar and the galaxy is locally brighter immediately following the bar.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3673 = h3341 on 22 Mar 1836 and
recorded "F; vL; very gradually little brighter middle. Several small stars near, and one = 7m
nearly south, at 6' distance. HIs position and description matches
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11 26 26.6 +57 02 54; UMa
V = 12.2; Size 1.9'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.4; PA = 33°
17.5" (3/19/88): moderately bright, small, very
elongated SSW-NNE, small bright core, stellar nucleus.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3674 = H. II-886 on 8 Apr 1793 (sweep 1038). He logged "pretty bright, irregular figure." This was the last of 19 galaxies discovered in a very productive sweep in Ursa Major. The NGC position from d'Arrest is accurate.
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11 26 07.8 +43 35 06; UMa
V = 10.2; Size 5.9'x3.1'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 178°
17.5" (4/6/91): very bright, fairly large, elongated 5:2 N-S, 4'x1.5', very bright sharply defined elongated core, substellar nucleus. A mag 13 star is at the SSW edge 2.0' from the center. A dust lane is evident by a sharper light cut-off along the east side of the core.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3675 = H. I-194 = h887 on 14 Jan 1788 (sweep 798) and recorded "vB, mE in the meridian, BN." John Herschel made two observations, first noting on 12 Apr 1830 (sweep 248), "vB; L; mE; very suddenly much brighter middle; 2' long, 40" broad. Many stars 14 and 15 mag precede." On 17 Mar 1849, George Johnstone Stoney (Lord Rosse's assistant) wrote, "Dark space [dust lane] following centre strongly suspected." As a result, the galaxy was included in the list of objects with "dark spaces" in Lord Rosse's 1850 publication.
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11 25 37.5 -11 08 23; Crt
V = 13.6; Size 0.9'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 151°
16" LX200 (4/14/07): faint, small, round, 0.5' diameter, occasional very faint stellar nucleus. Located in an asterims of 5 mag 11.5-12.5 stars with two mag 11.5 stars just 1' NNE and 1' SE. Listed as nonexistent in the RNGC.
Frank Muller discovered NGC 3676 = LM 2-436 in 1886 with the
26" refractor at the Leander McCormick Observatory. There is nothing at his position, but
30' south is
RNGC classifies the number as nonexistent and MCG -02-29-029 is not labeled as NGC 3676 in the MCG, Deep Sky Field Guide, Megastar, etc.
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11 26 17.7 +46 58 26; UMa
V = 12.3; Size 1.9'x1.7'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 130°
18" (5/30/03): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 4:3 NW-SE, 0.8'x0.6'. Weak, even concentration to a small, brighter core. Collinear with two mag 11 stars 4' and 6' NNE.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3677 = h888 on 19 Mar 1828 and
noted "S; R; very suddenly brighter in the middle to a * 16m." His mean position from 2 observations
is 1' north of
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11 26 15.7 +27 52 01; Leo
V = 13.6; Size 0.8'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.0
18" (3/29/03): faint, fairly small, round, 0.7' diameter, fairly even surface brightness.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3678 = h889 on 13 Apr 1831 and
recorded "vF; R; pretty suddenly brighter middle; 25". Is 2' sp a * 12m." His position and description matches
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11 26 08.6 -05 35 09; Leo
Size 1.0'x0.5'; PA = 178°
18" (3/19/04): fairly faint, small, elongated 5:2 N-S,
0.7'x0.3', fairly even surface brightness. Three mag 14 stars are within 2'. Located 4.6' SSE of a mag 10 star. The NGC identification is
very uncertain and NGC 3679 may apply to
William Herschel discovered NGC 3679 = H. III-112 on 24 Apr 1784 (sweep 205). He recorded "extremely faint, considerably large, round, resolvable. Just preceding, and very near a bright star. The nebulosity touches the star. There is so much moonlight that I do not see it satifactory, and am, even not without some doubts as to the reality, but must defer the verification till a darker night." There is nothing near his position.
Dreyer noted that Herschel couldn't find this nebula again
on 29 Dec 1786 (sweep 673). He
"Looked for the Nebula III. 112 and though the night is apparently not a
bad one, I could not find it. I
examined a great part of the heavens in this neighborhood but saw nothing of
it." He searched again
unsuccessfully on 20 Mar 1789 (sweep 912), but found another nebula - probably
See Harold Corwin's discussion of the identities as well as
Wolfgang Steinicke in his book on Herschel's sweeps (p. 258-259). Corwin and Steinicke conclude that NGC
3679 might be MCG -01-29-012, located 2.4' S of of mag 7.8
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11 25 37 -43 15 00; Cen
V = 7.6; Size 12'
13.1" (2/18/04 - Costa Rica): scattered group of a dozen stars at 105x in 7' but with an interesting arrangement as many of the stars form two intersecting lanes crossing at a right angle. Includes a few mag 10-10.5 stars.
James Dunlop discovered NGC 3680 = D 481 = h3342 on 7 May 1826 and recorded (based on 4 observations), "a cluster of stars, about 10' diameter, mixt magnitude. This precedes 25 Centauri."
On 3 Feb 1835 (sweep 542) John Herschel logged "cluster VIII class, 60 or 70 stars 11..13th mag in a compact round space, 10' diameter." On 24 Feb 1837 (sweep 774) he wrote, "not very rich but a good cluster; gradually compressed in the middle, large, rich, very scattered, almost fills field, stars 10..14th mag."
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NGC 3681 = UGC 6445 = MCG +03-29-048 = CGCG 096-045 = LGG 237-005 = PGC 35193
11 26 29.8 +16 51 48; Leo
V = 11.2; Size 2.5'x2.0'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 170°
24" (5/27/17): bright, fairly large, roundish, contains
a relatively large brighter core which is sharply concentrated with an
intensely bright nucleus. A string
of 3 stars extends to the ENE of the galaxy, the last is an uneven double
[~7" separation]. First in a
bright quartet (part of the LGG 237 group) with
13.1" (1/18/85): moderately bright, round, brighter core, stellar nucleus. On a line with two stars mag 11 and 12 3.0' NE and 4.7' NE. First of four in the NGC 3686 group with NGC 3684 14' NNE, NGC 3691 24' ENE and NGC 3686 28' NE.
8" (4/24/82): fairly faint, round.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3681 = H. II-159 = h891 =
h3343 on 17 Apr 1784 (sweep 198) and recorded "pB, S, bM, rather too large
to be called stellar." His
position is 18 sec of RA west of
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11 27 41.2 +66 35 23; Dra
V = 12.3; Size 1.7'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 95°
18" (3/30/05): moderately bright, small, slightly elongated E-W, ~0.6'x0.45'. Sharply concentrated with a very small, very bright, 20" core and a much fainter halo. Located on the Draco-Ursa Major border.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3682 = H. I-262 = h890 on 6
Apr 1793 (sweep 1036) and recorded "cB, vS, iF. A sort of a nucleus with a vF nebulosity about
it." His RA was 92 tsec too
large and dec 3' too large. John
Herschel logged "pB; R; very suddenly much brighter middle almost to a *;
30" dia." and his position matches
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NGC 3683 = UGC 6458 = MCG +10-16-143 = CGCG 291-072 = PGC 35249
11 27 32.0 +56 52 37; UMa
V = 12.5; Size 1.9'x0.7'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 128°
17.5" (3/19/88): moderately bright, moderately large, very elongated NW-SE, small bright core. In a low power field with NGC 3674 14' NW and NGC 3683A 21' NE. NGC 3683A was noted as moderately bright and large, oval ~SW-NE, broad concentration. A mag 13 star is off the northeast edge, 1.7' from center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3683 = H. I-246 = h892 on 18 Mar 1790 (sweep 951) and logged "F, pL, iR." His position (Caroline's reduction) is 17 sec of RA too small. John Herschel noted "E. haze so that I can barely be certain that a nebula exists.", but his position is very accurate!
Sir Robert Ball observed NGC 3683 on 1 Mar 1867 as an assistant to the Earl of Rosse. He reported finding another nebula described as "pF, pL, round, little brighter middle, following half a field of finder and about the same amount north of [NGC 3683]. Unless there is
some mistake (f for p) this must be a nova, otherwise it must be 2415 [= NGC 3674]. A * near." Ball's description points to NGC 3683A = UGC 6484, which is 14' E and 15' N of NGC 3683, matching about half a finder field (~30'). Dreyer didn't assign this object a NGC designation as he didn't confirm it in a later observation on 1 Apr 1878. Corwin suggests he perhaps didn't look far enough northeast of NGC 3683 to pick up NGC 3683A.
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NGC 3684 = UGC 6453 = MCG +03-29-050 = CGCG 096-047 = LGG 237-006 = PGC 35224
11 27 11.2 +17 01 48; Leo
V = 11.4; Size 3.1'x2.1'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 130°
24" (5/27/17): bright, fairly large, elongated 4:3 NW-SE, irregular halo increases in size with averted, ~1.6'x 1.2'. Contains a relatively large brighter core that is nearly round and is very weakly concentrated to the center. Middle of three bright galaxies that are nearly collinear with NGC 3681 14' SW and NGC 3686 14' NE. NGC 3691 lies 15' ESE. These galaxies are part of the LGG 237 group.
13.1" (1/18/85): moderately bright, slightly elongated NW-SE, broad concentration. Second of three on a line with NGC 3681 14' SW and NGC 3686 14' NE. Also, NGC 3691 lies 15' SE.
8" (4/24/82): fairly faint, round.
John Herschel found NGC 3684 = h893 on 17 Mar 1831 and logged "cB; L; E; very gradually brighter middle; 100" diameter." JH made a total of three observations and d'Arrest measured the position on 5 nights. JH is credited with the discovery in the GC and NGC.
But Wolfgang Steinicke found that WH probably discovered this galaxy on 17 Apr 1784 (sweep 198). After discovering NGC 3681, he turned north and found another new object, H. II-160, which he described as "cL, R, brightest in the middle but the brightness goes off very gradually." His position is poor -- 35 sec of RA west and 10' north of NGC 3684 and also 68 sec of RA west and 2' south of NGC 3686. Both JH and Dreyer assumed II-160 applied to NGC 3686 but Wolfgang states that WH didn't move his telescope that far north in the sweep and discovered NGC 3684 instead.
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11 28 16.2 +04 19 39; Leo
V = 14.4; Size 0.5'x0.2'; PA = 140°
24" (4/15/23): at 229x and 327x; faint, small, slightly elongated 4:3 NW-SE, ~20"x15". Forms the western vertex of an isosceles triangle with two 13th mag stars 2' NE and 2' E..
18" (4/30/11): faint, very small, round, 20"
diameter. Forms the western vertex
of a triangle with two mag 13 stars 2' NE and 2' E. Forms a close pair with
David Todd discovered NGC 3685 = Todd 9 on 11 Dec 1877 in
his search for a trans-Neptunian planet (AN 2698). I was unable to identify this object but Corwin found a
match with
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NGC 3686 = UGC 6460 = MCG +03-29-051 = CGCG 096-049 = LGG 237-007 = PGC 35268
11 27 44.1 +17 13 26; Leo
V = 11.3; Size 3.2'x2.5'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 15°
24" (5/27/17): at 200x; bright, very large, slightly elongated ~N-S, broad mild concentration with a relatively large slightly brighter core and a small brighter nucleus. A 14th magnitude star is on the south edge of the halo, 1.2' from center. The halo extends ~2.5'x2.0' and encompasses this star.
13.1" (1/18/85): brightest and largest in a group (LGG 237) with NGC 3681, NGC 3684 and NGC 3691. Elongated 4:3 ~N-S, 3.0'x2.4', brighter core. An extremely faint star or knot is involved. A mag 11 star lies 2.6' N of center. NGC 3684 is 14' SSW and NGC 3691 19' SSE.
8" (4/24/82): brightest of trio, moderately bright and large.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3686 = H. III-28 = h894 on
14 Mar 1784 (sweep 170) and logged "vF, L, r." His position is 15 sec of RA due east
of
JH observed h894 on 3 sweeps recording "pB; pL. (N.B. II 160 and III 28 are probably identical". On a second sweep he noted "B; L; R; bM; has a L star north and a smaller one south". Finally he logged "B; vL; E; very gradually brighter middle; 2' diam. Near a *." Dreyer followed JH's comment in his first sweep and commented in his 1912 "Scientific Papers of William Herschel" that the transit for II 160 must have been recorded 1 tmin too late.
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11 28 00.6 +29 30 39; UMa
V = 12.0; Size 1.9'x1.9'; Surf Br = 13.3
18" (3/29/03): fairly faint, fairly small, round. Seems to have an irregular surface brightness with a very small, slightly brighter condensation in the halo.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3687 = H. II-770 = h895 on 22 Feb 1789 (sweep 909) and noted "pB, pL, R, little brighter in the middle." John Herschel made 5 observations of this galaxy.
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11 27 44.4 -09 09 56; Crt
V = 14.3; Size 1.2'x0.9'; Surf Br = 14.2; PA = 10°
18" (3/17/07): faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1 SSW-NNE, 0.7'x0.35', low even surface brightness. Located 7.6' SSW of a mag 10.5 star.
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3688 = LM 2-437 in 1886
and noted "lE in PA 0°."
His position is an unusually good match with
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11 28 11.0 +25 39 41; Leo
V = 12.3; Size 1.7'x1.1'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 97°
17.5" (4/9/99): moderately bright, oval 5:3 ~E-W, ~1.3'x0.8', broadly concentration to a brighter core. The core brightens but no distinct nucleus.
8" (4/24/82): faint, round.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3689 = H. II-339 = h897 on 6
Apr 1785 (sweep 393) and noted "pF, pS, irr." John Herschel logged "B; pL;
gradually brighter in the middle; lE". His position is just of the south side of
On 22 Feb 1857, R.J. Mitchell (Lord Rosse's assistant) recorded, "Slightly E sp/nf, gradually brighter in the middle, faint nucleus. I have a faint suspicion that it has a curve to it, like a right-handed spiral."
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11 28 32.3 +58 33 43; UMa
V = 11.5; Size 2.9'x2.1'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 50°
48" (5/12/12): at 488x, the southwest component (VV
118b) of NGC 3690 appeared as a very bright, elongated, irregular knot of high
surface brightness. Contains a
very bright, quasi-stellar nucleus.
The northeast component (
17.5" (4/1/95): NGC 3690 is a disrupted, interacting
double system (
17.5" (3/19/88): fairly bright, moderately large, elongated ~E-W, irregular, mottled appearance. A mag 14 star is superimposed on the west side and an extremely faint mag 15.5 star or knot is involved. This is a disrupted interacting system which includes IC 694.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3690 = H. I-247 = h896 on 18 Mar 1790 (sweep 951) and recorded "pB, lE, mbM." On 9 Apr 1793 (sweep 1039) he logged "vB, pL, lE near the parallel, but a little from nf to sp." John Herschel reported "B; R; pretty gradually brighter middle. Query whether there be not a * excentric towards the south-following side." The "star" may refer to the companion on the south side. On 27 Jan 1852, LdR's assistant Bindon Stoney described the system as "Neb div into two parts, faint appendage np about one dia distant."
Swift also noticed it was double in 1883, writing in Sidereal Messenger IV (p39), "mentioned to all observers as very little elongated. Chancing to run across it with a power of 132, I immediately suspected it to be a close double, which suspicion a power of 200 confirmed. It is probably the closest double nebula known." Swift reobserved the galaxy on 18 Apr 1892 (list X) and noted "vs, close D with [NGC] 3690, suspected with 132, ver with 200". This is nearly identical to his 1883 comments. Dreyer entered Stoney's and Swift's second component as IC 694 -- but did they apply to the same object?
Usually, IC 694 is identified as the southwest component of
the interacting double system NGC 3690 and this is likely what Swift resolved
in his first observation. But
Stoney's earlier observation clearly resolved NGC 3690 into two components as
well as picking up the extremely faint 16th mag galaxy (
******************************
NGC 3691 = UGC 6464 = MCG +03-29-053 = CGCG 096-050 = LGG 237-008 = PGC 35292
11 28 09.4 +16 55 11; Leo
V = 11.8; Size 1.3'x1.0'; Surf Br = 12.0; PA = 15°
24" (5/27/17): at 200x; fairly bright, moderately large, sightly elongated, 1.0'x0.8', broad weak concentration but no core or nucleus. Last in a group (LGG 237 = USGC U376) and a prominent quartet with NGC 3681, 3684 and 3686.
13.1" (1/18/85): fairly faint, slightly elongated, moderately large, even surface brightness. Last of four in the NGC 3686 group. Located 19' SSE of NGC 3686 and 15' SE of NGC 3684.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3691 = H. II-54 = h898 on 14
Mar 1784 (sweep 170) and noted "vF, S, r." His position is 35 sec of RA east of
******************************
11 28 24.0 +09 24 27; Leo
V = 12.1; Size 3.2'x0.7'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 95°
18" (5/3/11): fairly bright, fairly large, edge-on 5:1
E-W, 2.4'x0.4'. Extends at least
80% of the separation (2.9') of two mag 13/13.5 stars to the NE. Well concentrated with a bright core
that gradually increases to very small nucleus. The halo fades at the tips and only extends the estimated
diameter with averted vision.
Located 10' SE of mag 9.6
17.5" (2/28/87): fairly faint, thin edge-on 5:1 E-W,
2.0'x0.4', very small bright core.
A mag 13 star is off the NE edge 2.3' from the center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3692 = H. II-152 on 15 Apr
1784 (sweep 194) and noted "F, mE, r." His position (Caroline's
reduction) is 7' N of
******************************
11 28 11.5 -13 11 41; Crt
V = 12.3; Size 3.7'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 85°
17.5" (5/2/92): faint, fairly small, very elongated 4:1
E-W, very small bright core. A mag
12 star is 3.3' WSW. Located 10'
SE of mag 8.3
William Herschel discovered NGC 3693 = H. III-532 = h3344 on 27 Mar 1786 (sweep 548) and noted "vF, lE, very little brighter middle." John Herschel logged "F; pmE in parallel; gradually pretty much brighter middle; 20"." The NGC misidentifies h3334 as NGC 3693 (typo).
******************************
11 28 54.1 +35 24 50; UMa
V = 12.9; Size 0.7'x0.6'; Surf Br = 11.8; PA = 120°
17.5" (4/18/98): fairly faint, small, irregularly
round, 30"-40" diameter, bright core, stellar nucleus at
moments. Brightest in a pretty
similar trio of
John Herschel discovered NGC 3694 = h899 on 11 Mar 1831 and
logged "Not vF; R; suddenly brighter in the middle almost to a star;
20" diameter." His
position matches
******************************
NGC 3695 = NGC 3698 = UGC 6490 = MCG +06-25-078 = CGCG 185-071 = PGC 35389
11 29 17.3 +35 34 31; UMa
V = 14.0; Size 1.0'x0.6'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 165°
17.5" (4/18/98): faint, fairly small, elongated 3:2 ~NNW-SSE, 1.0'x0.7'. Weak even concentration to a slightly brighter core and occasional stellar nucleus with direct vision at 280x. A mag 14 star lies 1.7' SE. In a trio with NGC 3694 11' SSW and NGC 3700 5.7' SE.
Sir Robert Ball, an assistant on the Lord Rosse's 72" telescope, discovered NGC 3695 on 31 Mar 1867 in his observation of NGC 3694. He described "3 faint nebula forming a triangle certainly seen here and one or more susp in the neighborhood. There being no great difference in brightness, it is not easy to see which is h899 [NGC 3694]. The 2 nf ones, pos 310°, dist 339" [5564 and 5566]." The relative position for the latter two exactly match NGC 3695 = GC 5564 = UGC 6490 and NGC 3700 = GC 5566 = UGC 6494.
But on 18 Mar 1876 Dreyer reobserved NGC 3694 and stated
"nnp is a pS, eeF neb [=5564] in PA 357.2°, Dist 256.7"." This was the position Dreyer used in
NGC for NGC 3695 and it corresponds with mag 14.8 star at 11 28 53.1 +35 29 00
(2000). In the same observation,
Dreyer notes "about 15' n and a few minutes f is another eF, vS neb [5565]
with an ef* 2' sf."
Apparently he felt this object was not observed on 31 Mar 1867 so he
assigned it separate designations GCS 5565 = NGC 3698, but his rough
description applies to
******************************
11 28 43.9 -11 16 58; Crt
Size 1.2'x1.0'; PA = 90°
18" (5/12/07): very faint, very small, elongated 4:3 E-W, ~16"x12". There appeared to be a mag 15.5 star superimposed NE of center. Located 3.2' NW of a mag 10 star.
16" LX200 (4/14/07): extremely faint, very small, round. Only glimpsed with averted, though the observation was likely made through clouds that I noticed afterwards.
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3696 = LM 2-438. There are no pertinent notes (simply
described as round) or sketch found for this object and nothing at his
position. But 10 sec if RA east
and 10' north is the faint galaxy
******************************
11 28 50.4 +20 47 43; Leo
V = 13.1; Size 2.3'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 93°
48" (3/1/19): at 488x; the brightest of four in
17.5" (4/1/95): brightest of three in the HCG 53. Fairly faint, moderately large, very
elongated 3:1 E-W, weak even concentration. A mag 11.5 star is 3.6' W and a mag 13 star 1.8' SE. The mag 13 star is on a line midway to
a pair of close companions
John Herschel discovered NGC 3697 = h900 on 24 Feb 1827 and
noted "eF; vS; E in parallel."
His position and description matches
******************************
11 29 17.3 +35 34 31; UMa
V = 14.0; Size 1.0'x0.6'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 165°
See observing notes for NGC 3695.
J.L.E. Dreyer found NGC 3698 on 18 Mar 1876 while an assistant at Birr Castle. He noted that "about 15' north and a few minutes following [NGC 3694] is another eF, vS neb with an eF* 2' sf." This description appears to match NGC 3695 = UGC 6490, which was discovered 9 years earlier by Sir Robert Ball on 31 Mar 1867 (see notes on N3695). The actual separation is 11' but there is a faint star 2' SE. So NGC 3698 = NGC 3695.
******************************
11 27 58.4 -59 57 37; Cen
V = 11.0; Size 71"
24" (4/5/08 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): this showpiece planetary appeared very bright, fairly large, ~70" in diameter. It displayed an excellent contrast response using an UHC filter at 200x. The planetary is bisected by a prominent, broad dark rift that slashes through the planetary from WSW to ENE (like Centaurus A!). The northern lobe is the more prominent: both larger and brighter. The shape of this lobe is semicircular with a round, outer periphery but with a fairly straight edge SW-NE in the interior due to the dark rift. The center of the dust lane is south of the geometric center of the planetary, giving an asymmetric distribution to the lobes. The rift itself is widest at the ENE end and tapers down towards the WSW end. Superb view at 350x as the extra magnification increases the contrast and confirms that the south lobe is fully detached by the dust lane at the WSW end. The compact planetary He 2-67 lies in the same field 11' SE.
13.1" (2/17/04 - Costa Rica): at 100x, this planetary appeared moderately bright and large, ~60"-65" in size. There was a good contrast gain with a UHC filter at 105x and 166x and it appeared brightest on the north side of the planetary. A dark rift running WSW-ENE appears to nearly detach the smaller and fainter southern section.
18" (7/7/02 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): at 128x this interesting planetary is moderately bright, fairly large, ~70" in diameter with some faint stars superimposed. With the UHC filter the appearance is very unusual with a dark rift bisecting it in a WSW-ENE orientation just below the geometric center. At 228x, the northern "hemisphere" is both larger and brighter with an irregular surface brightness. A mag 13 star is ~1' NW. This is a fascinating planetary set in a beautiful Centaurus star field with an appearance similar to faint HII region or a small version of Cen A!
John Herschel discovered NGC 3699 = h3345 on 1 Apr 1834 and recorded "B; pL; irr R; pgpmbM; 90"; r. Almost resolved. It is, however, by no means a mere knot of the Milky Way." Joseph Turner sketched this planetary on 8 Apr 1878 with the 48" Melbourne Telescope. It accurately showed two segments cut by a "dark channel on the following side". The dark lane is oriented NE-SW with the cut off section to the east much smaller and the dark lane slightly wider at the NE end. Robert Innes observed it with the 9-inch refractor at the Union Observatory in Johannesburg in 1914 and called it "a faint nearly round nebula 60" in diameter, mag = 14th."
******************************
NGC 3700 = UGC 6494 = MCG +06-25-079 = CGCG 185-073 = PGC 35413
11 29 38.6 +35 30 53; UMa
V = 14.0; Size 1.0'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.6; PA = 130°
17.5" (4/18/98): faint, fairly small, elongated 3:2 ~N-S, 1.0'x0.7', weak concentration. Similar to NGC 3695 5.7' NW and third in trio with NGC 3694. The orientation given matches the main bar - a fainter outer ring oriented NW-SE was not seen.
Sir Robert Ball, an assistant on the Lord Rosse's 72"
telescope, discovered NGC 3700 on 31 Mar 1867 while observing NGC 3694. Ball mentions "the 2 nf ones, Pos
310, Dist 339" which precisely matches the separation and position angle
of UGC 6480 and
******************************
11 29 28.9 +24 05 36; Leo
V = 12.9; Size 1.9'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 145°
18" (4/9/05): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1 NNW-SSE, 1.0'x0.5', weak concentration with a central bulge. A mag 14 star lies 0.9' N of center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3701 = H. II-349 = h901 on
10 Apr 1785 (sweep 394) and recorded "F, pL, of an irregular triangular
form." Caroline's reduction
is 4.4' northwest of
******************************
11 30 13.4 -08 51 47; Crt
V = 13.4; Size 1.4'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 158°
17.5" (3/29/89): faint, small, slightly elongated, even surface brightness.
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3702 = LM 2-439 and
recorded "mag 15.2, 0.1' dia, R, gradually brighter in the middle,
*10 precedes 30s; *10 follows
30s." There is nothing at his
position but 1 min of RA east and 8' north is
******************************
11 29 36 -08 37; Crt
= Not found, RNGC. = PGC 170146 at 11 29 09.2 -08 26 47?, Corwin
Ormond Stone discovered NGC 3703 = LM 1-187 on 31 Dec 1885 with the 26" refractor at Leander McCormick Observatory. There is nothing at his rough position (nearest min of RA) but Corwin suggests a possible identification with PGC 170146 at 11 29 09.2 -08 26 47. He notes, though, the sketch "only vaguely matches the galaxy (and its surrounding stars)" so this identification is uncertain. The RNGC classifies this number as nonexistent.
******************************
11 30 04.6 -11 32 47; Crt
V = 13.5; Size 1.5'x1.3'; Surf Br = 14.1; PA = 150°
17.5" (3/29/89): fairly faint, very small, round,
bright core. A mag 15 star is
42" E of center. Forms a
close pair with
Wilhelm Tempel discovered NGC 3704 = T. 1-35 = T. 5-10 on 23
Feb 1878 with the 11" refractor at the Arcetri Observatory and recorded
"Class III; a star 15m (nebulous?) follows 2 sec; near the comparison star
is another fainter nebula [NGC 3707]." His micrometric position matches
Andrew Ainslie Common independently discovered this galaxy in 1880 with his 36" silvered-glass reflector and described "2 [along with NGC 3707], F, R, on the parallel, star symmetrically placed between." Common's single position is 13' north of MCG -02-29-037 but his description is a perfect match with the pair. The NGC description for NGC 3704 mentions a mag 9-10 star 2' SSE of NGC 3704, although the bright star is actually 2.6' WNW. The RNGC and MCG position is 2' too far north.
Harold Corwin suggests that Swift's
******************************
NGC 3705 = UGC 6498 = MCG +02-29-039 = CGCG 067-093 = Holm 259a = PGC 35440
11 30 07.4 +09 16 37; Leo
V = 11.1; Size 4.9'x2.0'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 122°
18" (5/3/11): very bright, very large, elongated 2:1 or 5:2 NW-SE (with averted vision), 3.5'x1.5'. Contains a large, brighter core that increases to a very bright stellar nucleus [a star is superposed at the NW edge of the nucleus]. Outside the central region, the outer halo fades rapidly but doesn't have a distinct boundary.
17.5" (2/28/87): bright, fairly large, small bright core, elongated 5:2 WNW-ESE, 4.0'x1.6'. NGC 3692 lies 26' WNW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3705 = H. II-13 = h902 = h903 on 18 Jan 1784 (sweep 84) and recorded "a pL nebula. It is probably a faint cluster of stars, not being of the cometic kind." John Herschel made two observations, but his PD differed by 5' and his descriptions were sufficiently different he assumed h902 and h903 were perhaps different objects. But Dreyer notes that "only one nebula seen by William Herschel, John Herschel, d'Arrest, Vogel, Tempel and Lord Rosse", so h902 = h903 = H. II 13 = NGC 3705.
******************************
11 29 44.4 -36 23 29; Cen
V = 11.3; Size 3.0'x1.8'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 78°
13.1" (2/17/04 - Costa Rica): at 166x, moderately bright, moderately large, elongated 3:2 WSW-ENE, 1.5'x1.0'. Contains a bright, sharply defined 40" core and much fainter extensions.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3706 = h3346 on 1 May 1834 and
noted "pB; R; pretty suddenly brighter middle; 20"." His mean position (from 3 observations)
matches
******************************
11 30 11.5 -11 32 37; Crt
V = 15.4; Size 0.5'x0.4'; Surf Br = 13.5
17.5" (3/29/89): extremely faint and small, round. Picked up 2.6' E of NGC 3704.
Wilhelm Tempel discovered NGC 3707 = T. 5-10b on 23 Feb 1878. He noted NGC 3704 as "Class III; a star 15m (nebulous?) follows 2 sec; near the comparison star is another fainter nebula [NGC 3707]."
Andrew Common made an independent discovery in 1880 with his
36" silvered-glass reflector (along with NGC 3704) and described "2,
F, R, on the parallel, star symmetrically placed between." Common's single position (obtained
roughly using his setting circles)
is 13' north of the pair MCG -02-29-037 = NGC 3704 and
The NGC summary descriptions (from Tempel?) for both NGC 3704 and NGC 3707 has errors. The description for NGC 3707 mentions a "*15 (neb?) 2s following", which actually describes the mag 15 star 2.8 tsec following NGC 3704. See RNGC Corrections #4.
For some reason, the RNGC ignores the second fainter galaxy of the pair and lists NGC 3707 as nonexistent.
******************************
11 30 42 -03 13; Leo
= Not found, RNGC and Corwin.
Ormond Stone discovered NGC 3708 = LM 1-188 on 31 Dec 1885 with the 26" refractor at Leander McCormick Observatory. There is nothing at his position and this object could not be recovered by Harold Corwin, even with Stone's field sketch.
******************************
11 30 42 -03 15; Leo
= Not found, RNGC and Corwin.
Ormond Stone discovered NGC 3709 = LM 1-189 in 1886 with the 26" refractor at Leander McCormick Observatory. There is nothing at his position and this object could not be recovered by Harold Corwin.
******************************
11 31 07.0 +22 46 05; Leo
V = 13.1; Size 1.0'x0.8'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 105°
17.5" (4/9/99): faint, small, round, well-defined 30" halo is weakly concentrated but no noticeable core. Located 4.5' SW of mag 7.8 SAO 81865. A mag 15 star lies 1.3' SE and a pair of similar stars 2' NW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3710 = H. II-350 = h904 on
10 Apr 1785 (sweep 394) and noted "F, S." Caroline's reduction is 5' north of
******************************
11 29 25.5 -11 04 46; Crt
V = 14.0; Size 0.8'x0.4'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 165°
16" LX200 (4/14/07): extremely faint, small, elongated 2:1 N-S, 0.6'x0.3'. Located 2.4' N of a mag 11 star. The observation may have been made through some clouds.
17.5" (3/29/89): extremely faint, very small, round. A mag 11 star is 2.4' S of center.
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3711 = LM 2-440 in
1886. His position is 1.5 min of
RA following
******************************
11 31 09.2 +28 34 05; UMa
V = 14.0; Size 1.7'x0.6'; Surf Br = 13.9; PA = 160°
18" (3/17/07):
More likely NGC 3712 is a duplicate observation of NGC 3714. See observing notes for that number.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3712 = h905 on 26 Mar 1827 and recorded "vF; R; suddenly much brighter middle." The following month he noted "F; vS; R; bM." Neither description is helpful in identifying this number and his one good position (first observation) falls on a blank patch of sky, roughly 8' from both NGC 3714 and UGC 6506. Bigourdan and Reinmuth were unsuccessful in finding h905. RNGC and RC3 identify UGC 6506 as NGC 3712, but UGC, MCG and CGCG do not label this galaxy as NGC 3712.
Harold Corwin suggests NGC 3712 is more likely a duplicate
observation of
******************************
11 31 42.0 +28 09 13; Leo
V = 13.2; Size 1.2'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 125°
18" (5/30/03): moderately bright, fairly small, elongated 3:2 NW-SE, 1.0'x0.7', small bright core. Collinear with a mag 11.5 star 5' WNW and a mag 13 star 8.5' WNW.
17.5" (4/9/99): fairly faint, small, slightly elongated
NW-SE, 0.8'x0.6', bright core increases to a quasi-stellar nucleus, halo is
ill-defined. Brightest of 4 in
region with NGC 3714 13' NNE,
William Herschel discovered NGC 3713 = H. II-367 = h906 on
11 Apr 1785 (sweep 396) and noted "F, vS." John Herschel made three observations and his mean position
is accurate.
******************************
NGC 3714 = UGC 6516 = MCG +05-27-085 = CGCG 156-095 = PGC 35556
11 31 53.6 +28 21 31; UMa
V = 14.1; Size 0.5'x0.4'; Surf Br = 12.2; PA = 68°
18" (4/9/05): fairly faint, small, round, 25" diameter, fairly high surface brightness (like the core of a larger galaxy), moderate concentration though no nucleus.
18" (5/30/03): fairly faint, small, round, 0.4' diameter, weak concentration. Appears similar to the core of a larger galaxy. NGC 3713 lies 13' SSW.
17.5" (4/9/99): very faint, very compact galaxy ~20" in diameter, brightens somewhat to center. Picked up at 100x along with brighter NGC 3713 located 13' SSW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3714 = H. III-353 = h907 on 11 Apr 1785 (sweep 396) and noted "eF but doubtful. I tried to verify it, but could not succeed." His re-reduced RA is 38 seconds too large, but matches in declination and John Herschel measured a fairly accurate position on 3 sweeps (given in the GC and NGC). There was a misprint in the PT catalogue of 10 tmin from the offset star, so Auwers questioned the identity of III-353.
******************************
11 31 32.3 -14 13 53; Crt
V = 11.1; Size 1.5'x1.0'; Surf Br = 11.4; PA = 145°
17.5" (5/2/92): fairly faint, fairly small, round, 40" diameter, even concentration, bright core, smoothly increases to core. A mag 10.5 star is 5.0' NNW of center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3715 = H. II-562 = h3347 on
27 Mar 1786 (sweep 548) and recorded "F, S, bM, iF." There is nothing at his position, but
35 sec of RA west and 2' north is
******************************
11 31 41.2 +03 29 16; Leo
V = 13.5; Size 0.7'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 150°
17.5" (5/4/02): fairly faint, fairly small, round, 40" diameter, weak even concentration. Located just west of the midpoint of a line connecting two mag 10 stars oriented N-S and separated by 8'.
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3716 on 6 Apr 1866 and
recorded "faint, small. West
of a line connecting two mag 11/12 stars." His position and description matches
******************************
11 31 32.0 -30 18 28; Hya
V = 11.2; Size 6.0'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 33°
48" (4/21/17): at 488x; very bright, large, nearly
edge-on ~5:1 SSW-NNE, slightly bulges at the center. Contains a large, very bright central section with a mag
12.5 star attached near the NNE end.
A sharp dust lane cuts off part of the central section along the
northwest flank, partially hiding the core. Only a very faint, thin strip of the galaxy on the northwest
side of the dust lane was occasionally visible. With averted vision the low surface brightness outer
extensions (beyond the mag 12.5 star) were visible out to roughly 3.5'
diameter. Forms a pair with
18" (3/19/04): moderately bright, moderately large,
very elongated SSW-NNE, 2.5'x0.5', small brighter core, fades at the ends of
the thin extensions. A mag 13 star
is attached near the NNE end and this galaxy appears like a dagger attached to
the brighter star. Located 7' ESE
of mag 9
8" (5/21/82): faint, small, very elongated ~N-S, thin, moderately large. Located 10' SE of mag 8.5 SAO 179951 and 1° SSW of north Crateris (V = 5.8). Forms a pair with IC 2913 7.3' SE (not seen).
John Herschel discovered NGC 3717 = h3348 on 29 Apr 1834 and
recorded "pB; S; mE; attached to a star." His position matches
******************************
11 32 35.0 +53 04 05; UMa
V = 10.8; Size 8.1'x4.0'; Surf Br = 14.4; PA = 15°
48" (4/4/11): NGC 3718 is a very striking, distorted
system with sweeping arms emanating from an oval main body crossed by a curving
dust lane (reminiscent of Centaurus A).
At 375x it appeared very bright, very large, elongated ~5:2 N-S
(including arms), ~6.5'x2.5', contains a bright round core. A star is at the east edge of the
core. The main body is nearly
split by a dust lane or gap oriented NW to SE, which is particularly evident on
the NW side as a lane. A spiral
arm (perhaps 0.4' wide) is attached at the NW end and gently curves
counterclockwise towards the NE.
The surface brightness is fairly low and the arm or wing dims as it
extends nearly to the west of a mag 11 star located 4' NNE of center. The dust
on the south side of the core covers a larger region and is concentrated just
west of where the southern arm begins to emerge on the southeast end. A fairly low surface brightness arm spreads
south (wider than the northern arm), passing east of a wide mag 11 pair at
33" separation. The overall
visual impression is that the "arms" are really tidal tails being
drawn out from a past interaction as the central body looks more like the merger
of two galaxies resulting in the warped dust lane and "S" shaped
body. All five members of
13.1" (3/24/84): fairly bright, fairly large, broad
concentration, almost round.
Double star HJ 2574 = mag 11/11 at 35" separation is 2.2' SSW of
center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3718 = H. I-221 = h908 on 12 Apr 1789 (sweep 919). He recorded "pretty bright or considerably bright, round, very gradually much brighter middle, about 3' dia."
Birr Castle assistant Bindon Stoney reobserved it on 27 Jan 1852 and "found a neb strongly mottled, with stars inv." A later observation in 1868 questioned if it was a double nebula.
******************************
11 32 13.4 +00 49 09; Leo
V = 13.0; Size 1.8'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.8; PA = 15°
17.5" (5/10/86): moderately large, fairly diffuse,
almost round, broad weak concentration.
Forms a close pair with
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3719, along with NGC 3720, on 15 Mar 1866 and noted a faint, difficult double nebula, with a difference in RA of 9 sec and 1' in declination. His position is accurate.
******************************
NGC 3720 = UGC 6523 = MCG +00-30-006 = CGCG 12-010 = Holm 260a = PGC 35594
11 32 21.6 +00 48 15; Leo
V = 13.0; Size 1.0'x0.9'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 85°
17.5" (5/10/86): moderately bright, fairly small, round, sharp concentration. Appears smaller but slightly brighter than NGC 3719 2.2' WNW.
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3720, along with NGC 3719, on 15 Mar 1866 and noted a faint double nebula, with a difference in RA of 9 sec and 1' in declination. His position is accurate.
******************************
11 34 07.8 -09 28 01; Crt
V = 14.5; Size 0.9'x0.5'; PA = 141°
24" (3/9/13): fairly faint, small, oval 5:3 NW-SE,
24"x15", lens-shaped.
Two mag 15/15.5 stars lie 2' SE.
The identification of this galaxy with NGC 3721 is uncertain. Member of a large group (USGC S171) at
z = .021 with brightest members
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3721= LM 2-441 in 1886
and simply recorded "mag 15.5, 0.1' dia, R, gradually brighter in the
middle." There is nothing at
his position but Harold Corwin lists
******************************
11 34 23.3 -09 40 48; Crt
V = 14.1; Size 0.9'x0.8'; Surf Br = 14.4
24" (3/9/13): faint to fairly faint, small, round,
18" diameter, fairly low even surface brightness. Brightest of four in a 4' string,
including extremely faint
18" (5/12/07): very faint, very small, round, 15"
diameter, low even surface brightness.
First of three in a 4' string with
17.5" (4/5/97): extremely faint, very small, round,
15" diameter. First of close
trio with
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3722 = LM 2-442, along
with NGC 3724, in 1886 and noted "mag 15.0, round, 0.2', suddenly brighter
in the middle to a nucleus, 1st of 2 [with N3724]." There is nothing at his position, but
this number is generally equated with
Corwin proposes
******************************
11 32 30.6 -09 58 11; Crt
V = 13.3; Size 1.1'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.1
18" (3/19/04): fairly faint, small round, 25" diameter, weak concentration to a very small brighter nucleus. In a group (USGC S171 at z = .021) of mostly faint galaxies with several uncertain designations (NGC 3721, NGC 3722, NGC 3724) ~35' NE, as well as NGC 3732 (z = .006), which is 26' ENE.
Andrew Ainslie Common discovered NGC 3723 in 1880 with his
36-inch reflector. His position is
just 8 sec of RA following and 1.5' north of
******************************
NGC 3724 = MCG -01-30-007 = PGC 35757
11 34 28.7 -09 39 37; Crt
V = 14.2; Size 1.6'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.8; PA = 55°
24" (3/9/13): fairly faint, small, elongated 2:1 SW-NE,
24"x12", contains a small bright core with fainter extensions. Middle galaxy in a 4' string with NGC
3722 1.8' SW and MCG -01-30-008 = PGC 35771 2.4' ENE. Both of these companions are comparable in brightness. Also
much fainter MCG -01-30-006 is 1.1' SW.
18" (5/12/07): extremely faint, very small, elongated 3:2 or 2:1 SW-NE, ~20"x12". Second of three in a 4' string with NGC 3722 1.8' SW and MCG -01-30-008 2.3' ENE.
17.5" (4/5/97): extremely faint, small, elongated 2:1 SW-NE. Brightest in close trio with MCG -01-30-005 = NGC 3722: 1.8' SE and MCG -01-30-008 2.3' NE, although still required averted vision. The NGC identifications in the group (from Leavenworth) are uncertain due to poor positions and several nearby faint galaxies.
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3724 = LM 2-443 in 1886 and noted "mag 15.0, 0.4' dia, R, suddenly brighter in the middle to a nucleus, 2nd of of 2 [with NGC 3722]." There is nothing at his exact position, though a number of candidates are in the area. MCG -01-30-007 = PGC 35757 is often taken (RNGC, PGC, NED, HyperLeda) as NGC 3724 and MCG -01-30-005 = PGC 35746 is taken as NGC 3722. The MCG does not label MCG -01-30-007 as NGC 3724. This pair is between ~1.7 min of RA east of Leavenworth's positions (not an uncommon error) though the relative orientation (southwest-northeast) is wrong. Corwin proposes the identification NGC 3722 = PGC 170153 and NGC 3724 = IC 2910. These two galaxies are less than 1 min of RA west of Leavenworth's position and match the correct orientation.
MCG -01-30-007 was possibly discovered by Andrew Common 6 years earlier with his 36-inch reflector. In his description for NGC 3732 (#20), he mentions "a cluster of 3 similar ones 15' N", which appears to refer to MCG -01-30-005, -007 and -008, though Dreyer did not assign NGC designations to Common's trio.
******************************
11 33 40.6 +61 53 16; UMa
V = 13.0; Size 1.2'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 145°
17.5" (4/14/01): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated
4:3 NNW-SSE, 1.0'x0.7', weak concentration to a small, slightly brighter
coire. A mag 14 star is 1' SE of
center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3725 = H. II-836 = h909 on
19 Mar 1790 (sweep 953) and logged "F, S, R, r, almost of equal light
throughout." Caroline's
reduced position is 1' south of
******************************
11 33 21.1 +47 01 45; UMa
V = 10.4; Size 6.2'x4.3'; Surf Br = 13.8; PA = 10°
48" (4/19/17): at 375x and 488x; very bright, very large spiral, extending 3:2 N-S, 4.5' or 5' x 3'. Contains a brighter, mottled central core that is sharply concentrated with an intensely bright roundish nucleus. Two obvious spiral arms are attached on the N and S end of the central region. The N arm is brightest at its root near the NE side of the core. It rotates clockwise and sharply curls W and SW, then dims and ends W of the nucleus. This arm appeared a bit thicker than the DSS2 image. The southern arm shoots straight SE, and curls a bit E. The arm contains a couple of slightly brighter HII patches including NGC 3726:[BKB2006] 2, situated 1.4' S of center. The outer halo has a low surface brightness but extends to a mag 12.5 star 2.4' N of center.
17.5" (4/6/91): bright, large, oval 2:1 N-S, 5.0'x2.5', patchy mottled appearance, very small or stellar nucleus but no core. A mag 12 star is at the north tip 2.4' from the center. Member of the NGC 3877 subgroup with the NGC 3992 (M109) group.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3726 = H. II-730 = h910 on 5 Feb 1788 (sweep 808) and recorded "pB, bM, 4' long and 3' broad, r." His position is at the north edge of the galaxy. John Herschel made two observations, first recording "pB; vL; E in meridian; very gradually brighter middle; 4' l, 2' br; has a * at its northern extremity."
William Rambaut, observing with LdR on 26 Mar 1848, recorded "Before nebula came into the field of the large finding eyepiece Lord Rosse observed a vF neb p it about 2m nearly in the parallel [likely CGCG 242-042, which was ignored in the GC and NGC]. [NGC 3726] is tolerably bright nucleus almost in centre; Lord Rosse at intervals perceived traces of spiral arrangement; dark black elliptical stripe a little above the nucleus." R.J. Mitchell on 30 Mar 1856 wrote, "it appears of the shape annexed [sketch shows a dramatic "S" shaped (barred) spiral], which exaggerates. There can be no doubt of the bend upwards at Alpha [shows the southeast arm] and of the darkness about the nucleus." NGC 3726 was included in the list of spiral nebulae in the 1850 PT paper.
******************************
11 33 40.9 -13 52 44; Crt
V = 14.1; Size 0.8'x0.6'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 78°
18" (4/29/06): very faint, very small, round, 15" diameter. A mag 11.5 star lies 1.3' SE. NGC 3734 lies 19' SE.
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3727 = LM 2-444 in 1886
and recorded "mag 15.2, 0.1' dia, R, gradually brighter middle to a
nucleus, *11, 1' SE." His
position is 0.8 min of RA east of
******************************
11 33 15.8 +24 26 49; Leo
V = 13.0; Size 2.0'x1.5'; Surf Br = 14.1; PA = 25°
17.5" (5/4/02): fairly faint, fairly small. Contains a bright core and stellar nucleus surrounded by faint extensions SSW-NNE, 1.0'x0.6'. STF 1549, a nice mag 9/10 pair at 12" separation, lies 11' SW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3728 = H. II-351 = h912 on
10 Apr 1785 (sweep 394) and noted "F, S." Caroline's reduction was 3.8' northwest of
******************************
NGC 3729 = UGC 6547 = KUG 1131+534 = MCG +09-19-117 = CGCG 268-051 = LGG 241-004 = PGC 35711
11 33 49.3 +53 07 33; UMa
V = 11.4; Size 2.8'x1.9'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 15°
13.1" (3/24/84): fairly bright, fairly small, elongated ~N-S. A mag 11 star is on the SSW edge 57" from the center. NGC 3718 lies 12' WSW. Member of the LGG 241 or UMa NED1 group, a subgroup of the M109 Group
William Herschel discovered NGC 3729 = H. I-222 = h911 on 12 Apr 1789 (sweep 919). He recorded "pretty bright, irregularly elongated, gradually brighter middle, nearly in the meridian [N-S], about 2' long. John Herschel called this galaxy "Not B; L; lE; a *12 mag south-preceding very near the edge." His position is accurate.
Birr Castle assistant Bindon Stoney made an observatio on 27 Jan 1852: "12' following [NGC 3718] is another neb, irregular, with a bright star in south edge and having dark lanes through it."
******************************
NGC 3730 = MCG -01-30-003 = PGC 35743
11 34 16.8 -09 34 34; Crt
V = 13.1; Size 1.5'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.7; PA = 18°
24" (3/9/13): fairly faint to moderately bright, fairly
small, slightly elongated ~30"x24". Sharply concentrated with a bright round core and a much
fainter halo. Forms a close pair
with
NGC 3730 is the brightest member of a group of galaxies USGC S171 at z = .021 (several with uncertain identifications) including MCG -01-30-005 (NGC 3722), -006, -007 (NGC 3724) and -008 roughly 6' SE. Another trio of faint galaxies (LEDA 156711, 156714 and 156715) is ~6' NE. Finally PGC 35727 (possibly NGC 3721) lies 7' NNW.
18" (5/12/07): faint, small, elongated 4:3 ~N-S, 0.4'x0.3', broad weak concentration with an occasional sparkle at the center (slightly brighter nucleus). A group of 4 or 5 mag 14-15 stars follows. Located 16' N of NGC 3732 and 10' NNW of a string of three galaxies (including NGC 3722 and NGC 3724). LEDA 156711 (first in another extremely faint trio) lies 5' NE.
17.5" (4/5/97): faint, fairly small, slightly elongated ~N-S, 0.8'x0.6', weak concentration to center but no well-defined core. Several fainter galaxies in field including the trio of NGC 3722, NGC 3724 and MCG -01-30-008 ~6' SE and a very faint pair of anonymous galaxies 4.5' NE and 7.0' NE. The NGC identification is very uncertain as Leavenworth's position is a very poor match.
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3730 = LM 2-445 in 1886 and logged "mag 15.6, 0.5' dia, lE 140°, gradually little brighter middle." There is nothing at this position, though a number of galaxies to the east are possibilities. In addition, Andrew Common, in his observation of NGC 3732, noted "a cluster of 3 similar ones 15' n." Dreyer assumed one of these was Leavenworth's NGC 3730 (mentioned in the NGC notes section).
The brightest and largest of the galaxies to the north of
NGC 3732 is MCG -01-30-003 = PGC 35734, though this is not necessarily one of
Common's "cluster of 3".
This galaxy is 0.9 min of RA east of Leavenworth's position and 2'
north. The RNGC likely
misidentifies MCG -01-30-008 as NGC 3730.
Another possibility is NGC 3730 refers to one of the trio of extremely faint
galaxies that are situated ~6' northeast of
******************************
11 34 11.7 +12 30 44; Leo
V = 13.4; Size 1.0'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 45°
17.5" (5/4/02): fairly faint, small, round, 30" diameter, weak concentration. A wide mag 10/14 pair lies 7' NE.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3731 = H. III-80 on 12 Apr
1784 (sweep 188) and noted "vF, vS, R, stellar; brightest in the
middle. 240x confirmed
it." His position is The NGC
position is 10 sec of RA east and 1' south of
******************************
NGC 3732 = MCG -02-30-005 = LGG 248-005 = PGC 35734
11 34 13.9 -09 50 44; Crt
V = 12.5; Size 1.2'x1.2'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 85°
18" (5/12/07): moderately bright, fairly small,
elongated nearly 3:2 E-W, ~1.0'x0.7'.
Contains a bright core which gradually increases to the center. A mag 12 star lies 1' SW. Brightest in a group with a string of
three very faint galaxies 10'-12' NNE and an additional 4 very faint galaxies
5'-8' further north. Physically,
NGC 3732 is part of the much nearer
17.5" (4/5/97): moderately bright, fairly small, elongated 4:3 ~E-W, broad concentration with a bright core. A mag 12 star lies 1.0' SW. A group of at least six very faint galaxies lies between 10'-20' N and NGC 3723 lies 26' WSW.
17.5" (5/2/92): fairly faint, fairly small, slightly elongated but irregular outline, fairly bright elongated core. A faint stellar nucleus is visible at moments. A mag 13 star lies 1.0' SW. Located 35' W of Theta Crateris (V = 4.7).
William Herschel discovered NGC 3732 = H. II-552 = h913 on 4 Mar 1786 (sweep 597) and noted "F, pS, iR. Following a very small star." His position is accurate. John Herschel recorded (sweep 129) "S; R; pretty suddenly brighter middle; has a * 14m, 45° sp."
Andrew Ainslie Common found it in 1880 with his 36-inch and included it as #20 in his Copernicus discovery list: "F, R, a cluster of 3 similar ones 15' N." The "3 similar ones" might refer to MCG -01-30-005 = NGC 3722, MCG -01-30-007 = NGC 3724 and MCG -01-30-008. Unfortunately, there are a number of faint galaxies in in this area so these identifications are uncertain.
******************************
11 35 01.7 +54 51 02; UMa
V = 12.4; Size 4.8'x2.2'; Surf Br = 14.8; PA = 170°
17.5" (3/19/88): very faint, moderately large,
elongated 2:1 ~N-S, very diffuse.
Located 4' N of mag 5.6
William Herschel discovered NGC 3733 = H. III-771 on 14 Apr
1789 (sweep 920) and recorded "eF, S, irr E. On account of the brightness of the foregoing star which was
in the field of view with it; I had nearly overlooked it. His position matches
******************************
NGC 3734 = MCG -02-30-006 = PGC 35773
11 34 40.7 -14 04 54; Crt
V = 13.9; Size 1.3'x1.0'; Surf Br = 14.0; PA = 19°
18" (4/29/06): very faint, fairly small, round, 0.5' diameter, weak concentration with a very small slightly brighter core. Located 7' ESE of mag 9.4 HD 100552. NGC 3727 lies 19' NW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3734 = H. III-935 = h3349 on 19 Apr 1794 (sweep 1058). He noted "very faint or rather extremely faint, small, bright middle." Caroline's reduction is 4' south of PGC 35773. From the Cape of Good Hope, John Herschel recorded "eeF, R, gradually brighter in the middle, difficult but a good obs." His position was fairly accurate.
******************************
11 35 57.3 +70 32 09; Dra
V = 11.8; Size 4.2'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 131°
17.5" (4/1/95): fairly faint, edge-on 5:1 NW-SE, 3.0'x0.6', small bright core, stellar nucleus at moments. A mag 14 star lies 1.1' NE of center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3735 = H. I-287 = h914 on 7 Dec 1801 (sweep 1105, under the pole). He recorded "considerably bright, much extended, much brighter middle, from north preceding to south following, about 3' long and 1' broad." John Herschel called this galaxy "faint; much extended in pos 130.4°; brighter middle; 90" long and 12" broad."
******************************
11 35 41.7 +73 27 07; Dra
V = 14.4; Size 1.2'x0.7'; Surf Br = 14.0; PA = 155°
18" (3/30/05): faint, fairly small, elongated 5:3
~NW-SE, 0.8'x0.5'. A faint star is
superimposed on the SE side.
Located 4.7' NE of mag 8.3
Ralph Copeland discovered NGC 3736. Although the discovery was not
published in Lord Rosse observations, Wolfgang Steinicke says it was probably
found around between 1885 and 1887 with his 6.1-inch Simms refractor. The NGC
position is 0.6 tmin east of
******************************
NGC 3737 = UGC 6563 = MCG +09-19-128 = CGCG 268-058 = Holm 266a = PGC 35840
11 35 36.4 +54 56 55; UMa
V = 12.9; Size 1.0'x1.0'; Surf Br = 12.8
17.5" (3/19/88): fairly faint, very small, round. Forms a pair with
William Herschel discovered NGC 3737 = H. III-772 on 14 Apr 1789 (sweep 920) and recorded "vF, stellar neb." His position is accurate (discovered immediately after NGC 3733). d'Arrest also measured two accurate positions.
******************************
NGC 3738 = Arp 234 = UGC 6565 = MCG +09-19-130 = CGCG 268-060 = PGC 35856
11 35 48.5 +54 31 28; UMa
V = 11.7; Size 2.5'x1.9'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 155°
24" (5/27/17): at 200x; bright, large, elongated 3:2
NNW-SSE, ~2.0'x1.3', noticeably mottled or knotty appearance. Broad
concentration but no defined core or nucleus. A brighter knot (HII complex?) is on the northwest
side. A chain of bright stars
begins at a mag 10.5 star 2.5' NE of center and extends southeast.
17.5" (3/19/88): fairly bright, moderately large, elongated 3:2 NNW-SSE although has an irregular appearance. Sharper edge on the west side and more curved on the east side. Two mag 10/11 stars are 2.4' NE and 4.0' ENE of center. NGC 3756 lies 15' SE.
13.1" (3/24/84): fairly bright, almost even surface brightness.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3738 = H. II-783 on 14 Apr
1789 (sweep 920) and recorded "pB, pL, bM." His position matches
******************************
11 35 37.6 +25 05 19; Leo
V = 14.5; Size 1.1'x0.3'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 17°
17.5" (5/4/02): very faint, very elongated 3:1 SSW-NNE,
0.6'x0.2', very low even surface brightness. Located 12' W of mag 7.0
Otto Struve discovered NGC 3739 on 16 Mar 1869 with the 15-inch Merz & Mahler refractor at the Pulkovo Observatory in St. Petersburg. He recorded "Very faint nebula, situated in the middle between several small stars. Almost on a straight line between two stars (mag 11-12), little closer to the south one, from which the PA is 327 °. From the more northern star it is 160 °. Distance between the two stars from each other is about 4'." He found this object (along with 7 others) while searching for Comet Winnecke (7P/Pons-Winnecke) in Mar-Apr 1869.
******************************
11 36 12.3 +59 58 35; UMa
V = 14.1; Size 0.9'x0.4'; Surf Br = 12.7; PA = 110°
18" (3/30/05): faint, small, elongated 5:2 WNW-ESE, 0.5'x0.2'. Situated on a line between a mag 14 star 2' SE and a mag 13 star 3' NW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3740 = H. III-847 = h915 on
19 Mar 1790 (sweep 953) and noted "eF, vS, iF." Caroline's reduced position is 2' south
of
******************************
11 36 06.2 +45 17 02; UMa
V = 14.0; Size 2.0'x1.1'; Surf Br = 14.8; PA = 5°
18" (3/17/07): faint, moderately large, round, 1.2' diameter, low surface brightness, very weak concentration, a faint star is just off the west side. Collinear with a 13" pair of mag 12 stars located ~10' NW.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3741 = h916 on 19 Mar 1828 and
recorded "vF; R; very gradually brighter middle; 20"." His position (single observation)
matches
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11 35 32.5 -37 57 23; Cen
V = 12.1; Size 2.4'x1.7'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 116°
18" (4/25/09): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated
3:2 WNW-ESE, ~45"x30".
Contains a small, brighter, round core. Forms a pair with
John Herschel discovered NGC 3742 = h3350 on 21 Apr 1835 and
recorded "pB, pL, R, gradually little brighter middle,
40"." His mean position
from 2 sweeps matches
******************************
11 35 57.4 +21 43 21; Leo
V = 14.5; Size 0.4'x0.4'
18" (5/12/07): very faint, extremely small, round, 12" diameter. Located 1.4' NW of a mag 10 star. Discovered on the same night as Copeland's Septet (13 April 1876) and located 30'-35' SW of the Septet.
Ralph Copeland discovered NGC 3743 on 18 Mar 1876, just west
of "Copeland's Septet", and recorded "F, S, R, from *9 [offset
of] 78" in PA 322.5°. This
offset points exactly to
******************************
11 35 57.9 +23 00 42; Leo
V = 14.5; Size 0.6'x0.2'; PA = 10°
16" LX200 (4/14/07): faint, small, elongated 2:1 N-S,
0.6'x0.3', brighter core.
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3744 = St. 12-46 on 20 Mar
1882. His published position was
reduced on 11 Apr 1882 and matches
******************************
11 37 44.4 +22 01 16; Leo
V = 15.2; Size 0.4'x0.2'; Surf Br = 12.4; PA = 100°
48" (4/16/15): fairly faint to moderately bright,
small, round, 15" diameter.
Squeezed between slightly brighter and larger
17.5" (5/11/96): this member of Copeland's Septet
appears extremely faint and small, round. Located between brighter NGC 3748
1.1' E and
17.5" (3/19/88): second of 7 member of Copeland's
Septet. Extremely faint and small,
round. Second in a very tight trio
with NGC 3746 43" SSW and NGC
3748 1.1' ENE. Located 3.2' NW of
Ralph Copeland, while an assistant at Birr Castle, discovered NGC 3745 and other members of "Copeland's Septet" on 5 Apr 1874. He noted "pB; pL; R" and labeled it Beta on the constructed sketch made on 13 Apr 1876. See NGC 3753.
******************************
NGC 3746 = HCG 57B = Arp 320 NED2 = UGC 6597 = MCG +04-28-005 = CGCG 127-006 = VV 282 = PGC 35997 = Copeland's Septet
11 37 43.6 +22 00 35; Leo
V = 14.2; Size 1.1'x0.5'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 127°
48" (4/16/15): moderately bright, fairly small, elongated 3:2 NW-SE, sharply concentrated with a very small bright core. The 0.6'x0.4' halo has a low surface brightness. NGC 3745 is 40" N with NGC 3748 1.6' NE.
The 9th member of the group, 2MASX J11373896+2202269, lies
2.1' NW. It appeared fairly faint,
small, round, 15" diameter.
This galaxy is not a member of
17.5" (5/11/96): this member of Copeland's Septet appears very faint, very small, round. Brightest of close trio with similar NGC 3748 1.6' NE and NGC 3745 just 0.7' N.
17.5" (3/19/88): first of 7 in Copeland's Septet and second brightest in the group. Very faint, very small, round. Brightest of a close trio with NGC 3745 43" NNE and NGC 3748 1.6' NE.
Ralph Copeland, while an assistant at Birr Castle, discovered NGC 3746 and 2 other members of "Copeland's Septet" on 9 Feb 1874. He noted "pB; cL; gradually little brighter middle; E 90° +/-" and labeled it Gamma on the constructed sketch made on 13 Apr 1876. See NGC 3753.
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11 32 31.0 +74 22 42; Dra
V = 15.3; Size 0.4'x0.2'; PA = 110°
17.5" (4/18/98): extremely faint, very small, round. Only visible with averted vision for moments although repeatedly glimpsed. Listed as nonexistent in RNGC.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3747 = H. III-969 on 2 Apr
1801 (sweep 1096). He noted
"extremely faint, small."
This is one of 15 far northern galaxies with large systematic
errors. A corrected position
matching
This galaxy is 1 1/2 magnitudes fainter than any of the other galaxies discovered in the sweep, so I'm a bit skeptical that it was noticed by Herschel. If so, it is certainly one of the faintest he ever recorded (B = 16.2).
******************************
NGC 3748 = HCG 57E = Arp 320 NED3 = MCG +04-28-007 = CGCG 127-007 = VV 282 = PGC 36007 = Copeland's Septet
11 37 49.1 +22 01 34; Leo
V = 14.7; Size 0.7'x0.4'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 66°
48" (4/16/15): at 488x; moderately bright, fairly
small, slightly elongated NW-SE, 0.4'x0.3', small brighter core.
48" (2/20/12): at 488x, HCG 57H = PGC 36010 was easily seen 0.9' SSE of NGC 3748. It appeared faint, very small, round, 12" diameter.
17.5" (5/11/96): very faint, very small, round. Third of three in a tight trio within Copeland's Septet with extremely faint NGC 3745 1.1' W and NGC 3746 1.6' SW.
17.5" (3/19/88): third of 7 in Copeland's Septet. Extremely faint and small, round. This galaxy is the third in a close trio with NGC 3745 1.1' WSW and NGC 3746 1.6' SW. Located 2.9' NNW of NGC 3753.
Ralph Copeland, while an assistant at Birr Castle, discovered NGC 3748 and 3 other members of "Copeland's Septet" on 5 Apr 1874. He noted "pB; pS; R" and labeled it Delta on the constructed sketch made on 13 Apr 1876. See NGC 3753.
******************************
NGC 3749 = ESO 320-008 = MCG -06-26-002 = PGC 35861
11 35 53.2 -37 59 50; Cen
V = 12.3; Size 3.2'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 107°
18" (4/25/09): faint, moderately large, elongated. At times only the brighter 30" core was visible but with concentration, long low surface brightness arms extend WNW-ESE and increased the size to ~1.4'x0.5'. The eastern side of the galaxy nearly reaches a line connecting two mag 12/13 stars with a separation of 3'. Located 4.8' SE of NGC 3742 and on images appears to be tidally disrupted.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3749 = h3351 on 21 Apr 1835 and
logged "pB; lE; gradually little brighter middle; 40"." His mean position from 2 consecutive
sweeps matches
******************************
11 37 51.7 +21 58 27; Leo
V = 13.9; Size 0.8'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 160°
48" (4/16/15): moderately bright, small, round, very small bright core, high surface brightness, 18" diameter. First in a striking trio with spirals NGC 3753 40" NE and 3754 1.0' NE.
17.5" (5/11/96): faint, very small, round, very small bright core. First of three in Copeland's Septet in a tight trio with NGC 3753 just 40" NE and NGC 3754 1.0' NE.
17.5" (3/19/88): fourth of 7 in Copeland's Septet. Very faint, very small, round. Located just 39" SW of brighter NGC 3753.
Ralph Copeland, while an assistant at Birr Castle, discovered NGC 3750 and 2 other members of "Copeland's Septet" on 9 Feb 1874. He noted "pB; little brighter middle; * in Pos 23.8°, distance 109.3"." and labeled it Epsilon on the constructed sketch made on 13 Apr 1876. See NGC 3753.
******************************
11 37 53.9 +21 56 11; Leo
V = 13.9; Size 0.8'x0.5'; Surf Br = 12.7; PA = 5°
48" (4/16/15): moderately bright, small, slightly elongated N-S, 22"x16", very small bright nucleus, fairly high surface brightness. Southernmost member of Copeland's Septet.
17.5" (5/11/96): extremely faint and small, round, 20" diameter. Requires averted vision although easier to view than NGC 3754. Furthest southern member of Copeland's Septet. Located 2.0' WSW of a mag 13 star and 2.7' S of brightest member NGC 3753.
Ralph Copeland, while an assistant at Birr Castle, discovered NGC 3751 and 3 other members of "Copeland's Septet" on 5 Apr 1874. He noted "F; L; E 45° +/-". This galaxy is labeled Zeta on the constructed sketch in the 1880 publication. See NGC 3753.
Although NGC 3751 = UGC 6601, the UGC copied the coordinates
and magnitude for
******************************
NGC 3752 = UGC 6515 = MCG +13-08-064 = CGCG 351-063 = PGC 35608
11 32 32.3 +74 37 39; Dra
V = 12.9; Size 1.7'x0.7'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 155°
17.5" (4/18/98): fairly faint, moderately large. At first this galaxy appeared roundish (probably viewing the core only), but then fainter extensions were seen NW-SE, increasing the dimensions to 1.2'x0.6'. Forms a triangle with two mag 11/13 stars 2.4' ENE and 1.4' NNE, respectively, and several other stars trail off towards the SW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3752 = H. II-905 on 2 Apr 1801 (sweep 1096). He noted "pretty bright, pretty large." This is one of 15 far northern galaxies with large systematic errors due to a misidentification of the offset star and the telescope misaligned off the meridian. John Herschel has a listing (h917) for what he assumed was II-905 in the Slough Catalogue, but his position falls on a 14th magnitude star. Dreyer used JH's erroneous position for NGC 3752 in the NGC.
A corrected position for NGC 3752 that matches
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NGC 3753 = HCG 57A = Arp 320 NED6 = VV 282a = UGC 6602 = MCG +04-28-010 = CGCG 127-012s = PGC 36016 = Copeland's Septet
11 37 53.8 +21 58 53; Leo
V = 13.6; Size 1.7'x0.5'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 120°
48" (4/16/15): moderately to fairly bright, elongated 3:1 WNW-ESE, 45"x15", contains a small bright core. Tightly paired with NGC 3754 21" NE of center and NGC 3750 40" SW. A mag 12 star is 1.3' N.
17.5" (5/11/96): the brightest member of Copeland's Septet appears very faint, very small, slightly elongated NW-SE. Closely bracketed by NGC 3750 40" SW and virtually in contact with NGC 3754 just 20" NE of center. A mag 12 star lies 1.3' N.
17.5" (3/19/88): this galaxy is the brightest member of Copeland's Septet. Very faint, fairly small, elongated WNW-ESE, bright core. This is the central galaxy in a very tight trio with NGC 3750 39" SW and NGC 3754 22" NE of center. Other members include NGC 3745 3.2' NW, NGC 3746 2.9' NW and NGC 3748 2.9' NNW.
Ralph Copeland discovered NGC 3753, while an assistant at Birr Castle, on 9 Feb 1874 and noted "pF, star in PA 5.5°, Dist 71.7"." This galaxy was labeled Eta in the constructed sketch of 13 Apr 1876. Copeland found this group while searching in vain for d'Arrest's GC 2464 = NGC 3760, which he assumed was in the general location. But d'Arrest had made a 1-hour error in RA, so his object was not to be found and the Septet happened to be just west of d'Arrest's erroneous position.
Due to a mixup in the reference star, though, Dreyer's computed positions for Copeland's Septet were offset 1.5 min of RA too far west and 16' too far south. The error was caught by Hermann Kobold while observing with the 19-inch Merz refractor at the Strasbourg Observatory in 1894 (see AN 3241). Dreyer acknowledged the correction in AN 3246 and the correction was given in the IC 1 Notes section. Still, the RNGC did not catch the correction and listed the entire Septet as nonexistent! See RNGC Corrections #2 and Deep Sky 1983. The nickname "Copeland Septet" appears in the RC2 notes section.
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NGC 3754 = HCG 57D = Arp 320 NED7 = VV 282b = MCG +04-28-011 = CGCG 127-012ne = PGC 36018 = Copeland's Septet
11 37 55.0 +21 59 07; Leo
V = 14.3; Size 0.4'x0.3'; Surf Br = 12.0
48" (4/16/15): fairly faint to moderately bright, small, slightly elongated N-S, 0.4'x0.3', small bright core. Situated just off the northeast side of NGC 3753.
17.5" (5/11/96): one of the three most difficult members of Copeland's Septet appears extremely faint and small, round. Difficult to resolve from brighter NGC 3753 just 40" SW of center. A mag 12 star is 1.0' N.
Ralph Copeland, while an assistant at Birr Castle, discovered NGC 3754 and 3 other members of "Copeland's Septet" on 5 Apr 1874. He noted "vF; R" and labeled it Theta on the constructed sketch made on 13 Apr 1876. See NGC 3753.
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11 36 33.4 +36 24 37; UMa
V = 12.8; Size 3.2'x1.4'; Surf Br = 14.3; PA = 133°
17.5" (4/14/01): fairly faint, fairly large, elongated 2:1 NW-SE, 2'x1'. Broad, weak concentration to a slightly brighter oval core. A couple of very faint stars are nearby.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3755 = h920 on 11 Mar 1831 and noted "eF; pmE; pL; gradually brighter in the middle." His position and desciption matches UGC 6577.
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NGC 3756 = UGC 6579 = MCG +09-19-134 = CGCG 268-063 = LGG 250-002 = PGC 35931
11 36 47.9 +54 17 39; UMa
V = 11.5; Size 4.2'x2.1'; Surf Br = 13.7; PA = 177°
24" (5/27/17): at 200x; bright, large, elongated ~2:1
N-S, ~3.5'x1.7'. Uneven, moderate
surface brightness (except low surface brighterness outer halo) but no distinct
core or nucleus. The halo (arms)
is not symmetric and change shape with different brighter patches (parts of
spiral arms) using averted vision.
Often the north half of the galaxy appeared brighter. NGC 3738 is 16' NW. Member of the
17.5" (3/19/88): moderately bright, large, oval 2:1 N-S, even surface brightness. A mag 10 star is 4.0' NNW of center.
13.1" (3/24/84): fairly large, diffuse, elongated N-S.
8" (3/28/81): very faint, low surface brightness. Located 15' SE of NGC 3738.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3756 = H. II-784 = h918 on
14 Apr 1789 (sweep 920) and recorded "pB, cL, lE, 3' long." His position matches
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11 37 02.9 +58 24 56; UMa
V = 12.6; Size 1.1'x1.1'; Surf Br = 12.7
17.5" (4/14/01): compact, high surface brightness glow, round, 25" diameter, very small bright core. A mag 13 star lies 1' E of center. Several galaxies are within 30' in a group (LGG 246).
William Herschel discovered NGC 3757 = H. III-843 = h919 on
18 Mar 1790 (sweep 951) and noted "vF, stellar neb. North-preceding a small
star." Caroline's reduced
position is 1' northwest of
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11 36 29.2 +21 35 46; Leo
V = 14.2; Size 0.5'x0.5'; Surf Br = 12.6
48" (4/20/17): at 697x; moderately bright, fairly small, round, 30" diameter. Two stellar nuclei were resolved, separated by only 6" E-W. The eastern nucleus seemed slighter brighter or perhaps more stellar. The western nucleus was quasi-stellar (perhaps a few arseconds diameter).
NGC 3758 is a post-merger pair and the twin nuclei
(separated by ~11,000 light-years) both house super-massive black holes! The seeing was fairly poor at the time
of the observation but the twin nuclei were still easily resolved. Located 2.6' ESE of a bright mag 9.7
star (
17.5" (5/4/02): fairly faint, small, slightly elongated, 0.5' diameter. Following by 2.5' is mag 9.7 SAO 81899 which is the first of three on a line to the NE. Also in the field is a 43" pair of mag 9.5 stars ~8' SSE. Copeland discovered NGC 3758 and this galaxy is situated 30' SW of Copeland's Septet.
Ralph Copeland discovered NGC 3758 south of "Copeland's
Septet on 18 Mar 1874 and logged "pB; S; R; suddenly much brighter middle;
Nucl not stellar." His
offsets to nearby stars is a perfect match with
Bill Keel dubbed NGC 3758 as the "Owl" galaxy (because of twin nuclei) in a 1993 article in Mercury magazine titled "The real astrophysical zoo - Colliding galaxies". I did find any other references to this nickname in an Internet search.
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11 36 54.1 +54 49 23; UMa
V = 13.3; Size 1.1'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.3
17.5" (3/19/88): faint, very small, round, weak
concentration. Located 2.1' N of a
mag 11 star and 16' E of mag 5.6 SAO 28064. Forms a pair with
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3759 on 19 Aug 1866 with
the 11" refractor at Copenhagen.
His position, measured twice, matches
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10 36 56.0 +21 52 55; Leo
See observing notes for NGC 3301. There is a one hour error in RA in the NGC.
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3760 on 21 Feb 1863 and recorded "B, pS, much brighter middle to a nucleus = *13, a mag 11 star precedes 4 seconds of time and south 175"." There is nothing at his position and he searched in vain for it again in Jan 1865. Dreyer mentions in the NGC notes that nothing was found at Birr Castle, though "a large group of novae preceding it [Copeland's Septet!] was found."
In the IC 1 notes, Dreyer comments "Delenda. It is = [NGC] 3301 with an error of 1 hour in RA [too large]." This identity was first suggest by Kobold in 1894. d'Arrest also mistakenly placed the nearby mag 11 star to the south, instead of north (same offset) and also made the same 1 hour transcription error the same night with NGC 3375, which is identical to NGC 3162.
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NGC 3761 = CGCG 127-001 = PGC 35933
11 36 44.1 +22 59 31; Leo
V = 14.1; Size 0.5'x0.5'
17.5" (5/4/02): very faint, very small, round, 20" diameter. Contains a faint stellar nucleus at moments. Located 1° NNW of Copeland's Septet.
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3761 = St. 12-47 on 17 Feb 1868 and recorded a rough unpublished position (4' too far NNW) in his logbook. His measured an accurate micrometric position on 11 Apr 1882.
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NGC 3762 = UGC 6591 = MCG +10-17-027 = CGCG 292-011 = PGC 35979
11 37 23.9 +61 45 33; UMa
V = 12.6; Size 1.9'x0.5'; Surf Br = 12.4; PA = 167°
17.5" (4/14/01): this attractive spindle appeared fairly faint/moderately bright, fairly small, elongated 7:2 NNW-SSE, 1.2'x0.35', sharp bright core, stellar nucleus. NGC 3725 lies 27' WNW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3762 = H. II-837 = h921 on 19 Mar 1790 (sweep 953) and noted "pB, lE."
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11 36 30.3 -09 50 48; Crt
V = 12.7; Size 1.1'x1.1'; Surf Br = 12.8
17.5" (5/2/92): faint, fairly small, slightly elongated. Overpowered by Theta Crateris (V = 4.7) just 3.7' NE. Member of a large group at z = .021 (USGC S171) with brightest members NGC 3730 and 3771.
Andrew Ainslie Common discovered NGC 3763 in 1880 and
recorded "F, diffused, south preceding 7 stars." His position is within 0.2 minutes of
RA and 1' south of
Francis Leavenworth independently found this galaxy on 25
Feb 1887 and gave an accurate micrometric position. It's listed as #430 (later
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11 36 54.6 +17 53 18; Leo
V = 14.2; Size 1.1'x0.9'; Surf Br = 14.0
17.5" (4/14/01): faint, small, round, 0.7' diameter,
very small brighter core with direct vision. This is a close interacting system (unresolved). Forms a pair with
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3764 on 20 Apr 1862, in the
field of NGC 3768. His position,
from two observations, matches
NGC 3764 was probably discovered earlier by R.J. Mitchell at Birr Castle on 22 Mar 1857. While observing h923 = NGC 3768 he noted "npp is another of the same character, but fainter." Dreyer, while preparing the 1880 publication added the note "= GC 2466, nova d'Arrest", though only d'Arrest is credited in the NGC.
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11 37 04.2 +24 05 46; Leo
V = 14.0; Size 0.8'x0.6'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 61°
17.5" (5/4/02): faint, small, slightly elongated E-W, 40"x30", even surface brightness. About 5' following is a perfect equilateral triangle of mag 11 stars with sides 4'.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3765 = h922 on 28 Mar 1832 and
noted "vF; R; 30"."
His position (single observation) matches
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11 36 14 -61 36 36; Cen
V = 5.3; Size 15'
13.1" (2/18/04 - Costa Rica): superb naked-eye open
cluster in Centaurus with several hundred stars resolved in a 15' field. It contains a very dense mass of stars
in the central 5' region that are seemingly arranged in a spiral configuration,
as well as a beautiful string of stars running SW-NE on the S side of the
cluster. A mag 7.2 M-type reddish
star (
10x30mm Canon IS (3/28/19 - Tasmania): easy naked-eye cluster in a gorgeous wide-angle binocular field! Situated within a superb string of bright stars. Very bright, high surface brightness cluster with a few resolved stars, moderately large and well defined. A few additional stars popped on and off.
Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille discovered NGC 3766 = Lac III-7 = D 289 = h3352 in 1751-1752 from the Cape of Good Hope. Using his 1/2-inch telescope at 8x, he noted "three faint stars in nebulosity".
James Dunlop observed the cluster on 27 Apr 1826, his first night logging nebulae and clusters. He described a "A pretty large cluster of stars of mixt magnitudes, about 10' diameter. The greater number of the stars are of a pale white colour. There is a red star near the preceding side; another of the same size and colour near the following side; another small red star near the centre; and a yellow star near the south following extremity, all in the cluster."
John Herschel first observed the cluster on 14 Mar 1834 (sweep 432) and noted "the preceding of two chief stars of a fine, large, loose, round cluster of stars 8..12th mag; gradually pretty much brighter in the middle, fills field; 150..200 stars." Two sweeps later he recorded, "A very fine cluster class VII; nearly round, 8' diameter, slightly compressed in the middle, stars of 9..15th magnitude; place that of an orange star 9..10th mag following the centre."
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11 37 15.5 +16 52 37; Leo
V = 13.4; Size 1.0'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.1
17.5" (5/4/02): fairly faint, small, slightly elongated E-W, 25"x20" diameter, fairly high surface brightness (core only viewed?). A mag 14 star lies 2.3' SW of center.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3767 = h924 on 17 Mar 1831 and
simply noted "vF; S; bM."
His position matches
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NGC 3768 = UGC 6589 = MCG +03-30-024 = CGCG 097-030 = PGC 35968
11 37 14.4 +17 50 23; Leo
V = 12.8; Size 1.8'x1.2'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 155°
17.5" (4/14/01): fairly faint, fairly small, slightly elongated, 1.0' diameter, moderately concentrated. Forms a pair with NGC 3764 5.5' NW. Member of a large group (LGG 246).
William Herschel discovered NGC 3768 = H. III-29 = h923 on 14 Mar 1784 (sweep 170) and described a "very faint, extremely small nebula, or rather nebulous star. The sweeping power left me rather doubtful but 240x verified it." His position (Caroline's reduction) is 28 sec of RA too large (recorded on a very windy night and the RA could not be determined well). JH also called this galaxy "stellar; a burred star.", though he measured a fairly accurate position. It seems odd that both missed nearby NGC 3764 (discovered by d'Arrest).
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11 37 44.2 +47 53 34; UMa
V = 11.8; Size 3.1'x1.0'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 152°
48" (5/1/22): at 488x; bright, fairly large, elongated ~5:2 NW-SE, at least 2.5' major axis. Contains a bright elongated core about 1' in length and a very small bright nucleus that appears offset towards the NW end of the core. The outer extensions have a much lower surface brightness and occasionally I noticed a slightly brighter patch near the NW end. The HST image reveals this is an uncatalogued barred spiral (mag 17-17.5).
17.5" (4/6/91): fairly bright, moderately large, very elongated 3:1 NNW-SSE, 2.5x0.8', weak concentration. A mag 13.5 star is 2.2' NE of center. A very close companion NGC 3769A = CGCG 242-066, which appeared very faint, very elongated 3:1 WNW-ESE, low surface brightness, is 1' SE of center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3769 = H. II-731 = h925 on 5 Feb 1788 (sweep 808) and reported "F, S, E from sp to np." John Herschel made two observations, recording on sweep 330 "'B; mE; gradually brighter in the middle; 60" l, 30" br."
Neither Herschel noticed the faint companion NGC 3769A at the southeast end, which was observed at Birr Castle. On 9 Apr 1852, Bindon Stoney recorded "gradually brighter in the middle, a F appendage of 2nd neb." On 17 Apr 1855, R.J. Mitchell logged "The appendage looks like an independent nebula. Lord Rosse thought the B ray resolvable." On 12 Apr 1861, Samuel Hunter also noted "Two, probably connected." A sketch shows the companion at the correct orientation. But surprisingly, neither JH nor Dreyer added this second galaxy to the GC or NGC. Kobold measured an accurate position in 1902 with the 18-inch refractor at Strasbourg.
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11 37 58.7 +59 37 01; UMa
V = 12.9; Size 1.0'x0.7'; Surf Br = 12.4; PA = 107°
18" (3/5/05): fairly faint, small, round, fairly high surface brightness, only 20" diameter. I probably viewed only the core as the catalalogued dimensions are much larger).
William Herschel discovered NGC 3770 = H. II-838 = h926 on
19 Mar 1790 (sweep 953) and noted "pB, S." Caroline's reduced
position is 10 seconds of RA west of
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11 39 06.0 -09 20 53; Crt
V = 12.6; Size 1.3'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.2
17.5" (5/2/92): faint, fairly small, round, increases
to a bright core, appears to have a very faint larger halo. Appears similar to
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3771 = LM 2-446 in 1886
and logged "mag 14.5, 0.1' dia, R, *10 p 15 seconds." There is nothing near his position, but
1.7 min of RA east is
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11 37 48.5 +22 41 28; Leo
V = 13.5; Size 1.1'x0.6'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 16°
17.5" (5/4/02): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated ~2:1 SSW-NNE, 0.9'x0.5', slightly brighter core. Located 40' N of Copeland's Septet!
William Herschel discovered NGC 3772 = H. II-352 = h927 on
10 Apr 1785 (sweep 394) and noted "F, vS." Caroline's reduction is 5' north of
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11 38 13.0 +12 06 44; Leo
V = 12.0; Size 1.2'x1.0'; Surf Br = 12.1; PA = 165°
13.1" (4/10/86): fairly faint, very small, round, stellar nucleus, small faint halo.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3773 = H. III-81 = h928 on 12 Apr 1784 (sweep 188) and recorded "eF, vS; it contains more nebulosity than the preceding [NGC 3731]; 240x showed it better than 157."
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11 38 30.3 -08 58 35; Crt
V = 13.8; Size 1.1'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 56°
24" (3/9/13): very faint to faint, small, slightly elongated, 25"x20", low but irregular surface brightness. A mag 12 star is 2.9' SW. Member of a large group (USGC S171) with brightest members NGC 3730 and 3771.
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3774 = LM 2-447 on 24 Jan
1887 and noted mag 15.8, 0.2'x0.1', E 75°. Another neb or eF star p 0.5'; *9 np 3'." His position is 6 sec of RA west and 1'
north of
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11 38 26.8 -10 38 19; Crt
V = 13.9; Size 1.1'x0.5'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 27°
17.5" (4/9/99): very faint, fairly small, elongated 3:1
SSW-NNE, 1.0'x0.3', low even surface brightness. A mag 12 star lies 3.0' NNW. Forms a pair with
Andrew Ainslie Common discovered NGC 3775 in 1880 and
described "pB to a Nucl; another 5' nf, eeF." The second object was catalogued as NGC
3779. Common's position is 1.2'
south of
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11 38 17.9 -03 21 15; Vir
V = 15.4; Size 0.4'x0.3'; Surf Br = 11.6
18" (4/30/11): extremely faint, very small, round, 12" diameter, required averted and could not hold steadily. Collinear with two stars mag 12.7/13.8 at 3.2' S and 5.6' S. Only faint stars in the field.
Ormond Stone discovered NGC 3776 = LM 1-190 in 1886 with the
26" refractor at Leander McCormick Observatory. His very rough position (nearest min of RA) is about 3'
south of
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11 36 06.8 -12 34 08; Crt
V = 13.4; Size 1.1'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 35°
18" (3/19/04): faint, fairly small, slightly elongated
SW-NE, 0.7'x0.5', very weak concentration. Located 13' SE of mag 7.2
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3777 = LM 1-191 on 26 Feb
1886 and recorded "mag 15.0, 0.8' dia, irregularly round, small star or
neb following." There is nothing
near his very rough position (near min of RA). But 2.5 min of RA west is
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11 38 22 -50 43 00; Cen
V = 13.1; Size 1.2'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 40°
14" (4/2/16 - Coonabarabran, 160x): moderately bright, fairly small, slightly elongated SW-NE, ~40"x32", contains a small bright core. A mag 14.5-15 star is barely off the northwest edge [17" from center].
John Herschel discovered NGC 3778 = h3353 on 31 Mar 1835 and
recorded "eF; R; 20"; in a field with 50 or 60 small
stars." His position matches
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NGC 3779 = IC 717 = MCG -02-30-013 = LGG 248-001 = PGC 36084
11 38 51.3 -10 35 01; Crt
V = 13.7; Size 2.1'x0.8'; Surf Br = 14.1; PA = 85°
17.5" (4/9/99): extremely faint, fairly small, round, 0.5'. Was not able to locate initially at 220x but once picked up with averted a dim glow was visible <50% of the time. Located 6.8' NE of brighter NGC 3775. Member of the NGC 3892 group (LGG 248) at z = .006.
Andrew Ainslie Common discovered NGC 3779 in 1860 with his
36" reflector. With respect
to NGC 3775, he noted "another 5' nf ". Close to this offset is
Frank Muller found
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11 39 22.3 +56 16 15; UMa
V = 11.5; Size 3.1'x2.5'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 90°
17.5" (4/6/91): moderately bright, moderately large,
elongated 3:2 SW-NE, weak concentration, uneven surface brightness [images
reveal a face-on multiarmed spiral].
A mag 13 star is off the ENE side 2.1' from center. Forms a pair with
William Herschel discovered NGC 3780 = H. I-227 = h929 on 14 Apr 1789 (sweep 920) and recorded "pB, cL, iF, r, 3' by 2'. John Herschel made two observations, noting on sweep 345, "F; L; R; very gradually little brighter middle; 60". Twilight."
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11 39 03.8 +26 21 43; Leo
V = 13.9; Size 0.7'x0.45'; PA = 23°
17.5" (4/15/93): faint, very small, round, very small
brighter core. A mag 14.5 star is
50" E. First of three with
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3781 = St. 11-11, along with
NGC 3784 and 3785, on 28 Apr 1881. His position matches
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11 39 20.7 +46 30 48; UMa
V = 12.4; Size 1.7'x1.1'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 0°
17.5" (4/6/91): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1 SSW-NNE, 1.0'x0.5', almost even surface brightness. A mag 12 star is at the SSW tip 0.6' from center and a mag 15 star is off the NNE tip 1.3' from center. Member of the NGC 3992 (M109) group = LGG 258, though another paper list it a member of the NGC 3769 group.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3782 = H. II-732 = h930 on 5 Feb 1788 (sweep 808) and recorded "F, S. Almost between 2 stars, the cheveulure touches them both; the are sp the nebula." John Herschel reported "a * 15m with a nebulous tail nf which touches another star."
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NGC 3783 = ESO 378-014 = MCG -06-26-004 = PGC 36101
11 39 02 -37 44 18; Cen
V = 11.9; Size 1.9'x1.7'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 162°
18" (4/25/09): fairly faint, fairly small, slightly elongated NNW-SSE, 0.8'x0.6', bright quasi-stellar nucleus. Located just NW of a mag 9.2 that detracts from viewing. This well-studied face-on galaxy contains a very bright, highly variable, Seyfert 1 nucleus (one of the closest) and my observation describes the core of the galaxy. NGC 3742/3749 lies ~40' SW.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3783 = h3354 on 21 Apr 1835 and
recorded "pB; R; very suddenly brighter in the middle; precedes (to n) a *
9m." His position and
description matches
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NGC 3784 = MCG +05-28-006 = CGCG 157-006 = Holm 271a = WBL 344-002 = PGC 36147
11 39 29.8 +26 18 33; Leo
V = 14.3; Size 0.9'x0.3'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 135°
17.5" (4/15/93): very faint, fairly small, very elongated 3:1 NW-SE, weak concentration, low surface brightness. Located just 0.9' NE of a mag 10.5 star. Forms a close pair with NGC 3785 0.8' SE with NGC 3781 7' NW.
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3784 = St. 11-12, along with
NGC 3785, on 13 Mar 1874. His
position was 2' to the west of this pair.
His published position (list 11, #12) was made on 28 Apr 1881and matches
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NGC 3785 = UGC 6620 = MCG +05-28-007 = CGCG 157-008 = Holm 271b = WBL 344-003 = PGC 36148
11 39 32.9 +26 18 08; Leo
V = 13.8; Size 1.0'x0.4'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 25°
17.5" (4/15/93): faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1 SW-NE, small bright core, very faint extensions. Located 1.5' E of a mag 10.5 star. This galaxy is the slightly brighter of a close pair with NGC 3784 just 0.8' NW. NGC 3781 lies 7' NW.
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3785 = St. 11-13, along with NGC 3784, on 13 Mar 1874. His published position (list 11, #13) was made on 28 Apr 1881 and is an excellent match. He described both galaxies as having faint stellar nuclei.
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11 39 42.4 +31 54 32; UMa
V = 12.6; Size 2.2'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 77°
24" (6/16/20): moderately to fairly bright, moderately
large, oval 2:1 WSW-ENE, 1.0'x0.5', bright core, small bright nucleus. Forms a
striking pair (
18" (4/10/04): moderately bright, fairly small, elongated 2:1 WSW-ENE, brighter core. I observed SN 2004bd, discovered less than a week earlier on 4/4/04 and situated just 4.7" W and 1.2" S of center. When the seeing steadied, the supernova was clearly resolved as a mag 14.5 "star" close WSW of center (along the major axis) and very close to the brighter (Markarian) core. Forms a pair with NGC 3788 1.4' NE of center. A mag 10.8 star lies 2.0' SE.
17.5" (2/24/90): moderately bright and large, elongated 5:2 WSW-ENE, bright core. Forms a pleasing close pair with NGC 3788 (separation of 1.4' NE). The galaxies are elongated at nearly right angles and almost attached at the ENE end of NGC 3786. A mag 10.5 star is 2' SE.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3786 = h931, along with NGC 3788, on 29 Apr 1827. His description reads, "the sp of 2 [with NGC 3788]; less bright and smaller than the nf." He made 3 observations of both galaxies.
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11 39 37.9 +20 27 17; Leo
V = 13.7; Size 0.7'x0.55'; Surf Br = 12.4; PA = 29°
17.5" (5/4/02): faint, very small, elongated 4:3,
SW-NE, 0.4'x0.3'. Moderate
concentration to a quasi-stellar nucleus.
Forms the NE vertex of a small triangle with a mag 13 star 1' W and a
mag 12 star 1.7' S.
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3787 on 10 May 1864. His
position is within 30" of
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NGC 3788 = Arp 294 NED2 = VV 228a = UGC 6623 = MCG +05-28-009 = CGCG 157-010 = Holm 272a = WBL 345-003 = PGC 36160
11 39 44.7 +31 55 51; UMa
V = 12.6; Size 2.1'x0.7'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 178°
24" (6/16/20): at 260x and 375x; bright, fairly large, very elongated 3:1 N-S. Contains a relatively large, bright elongated core. A small bright nucleus is embedded on the north side of the central core. A quite noticeable bright arc (outer curve of the northern spiral arm) is at the northern end of the disc. The disc is relatively dark (due to a dust lane) just on the inside (south) of the arc, so it appears partially detached.
17.5" (2/24/90): moderately bright, fairly small, very elongated 3:1 N-S, brighter core. Forms a striking pair of elongated spirals with NGC 3786 1.4' SW (Arp 294), which is almost attached at the south end of NGC 3788. A mag 10.5 star lies 2.7' SE.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3788 = h932, along with NGC 3786, on 29 Apr 1827. His description reads, "pB, E in merid [N-S]; gradually brighter in the middle; 40-50" long; the nf of 2 [with NGC 3786]."
Bindon Stoney, Lord Rosse's assistant on 24 Feb 1852, reported "2 rays, forming an angle of about 100°, the south one has a nucleus, and there is a knot at the north extremity of the north one." Rudolph Spitaler measured an accurate micrometric position in 1891 at the Vienna Observatory.
******************************
11 38 09.1 -09 36 26; Crt
V = 13.4; Size 1.6'x0.8'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 179°
18" (3/19/04): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1 N-S, 0.8'x0.4'. Contains a small brighter core and stellar nucleus with extremely faint extensions. Forms the western vertex of a near equilateral triangle with two mag 13.5 stars ~2.5' SSE and east. Located 25' NE of mag 4.7 Theta Crateris. Member of a large group at z = .021 (USGC S171) with brightest members NGC 3730 and 3771.
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3789 = LM 2-448 in 1886
and noted "mag 14.8, 0.3'x0.2', E 180°. RNGC and MCG misidentify
******************************
11 39 47.2 +17 42 44; Leo
V = 13.8; Size 1.1'x0.3'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 154°
48" (4/2/11): bright, fairly large, elongated 3:1
NNW-SSE, 0.9'x0.3', sharply concentrated with a very bright small core. First of six in the
25" (3/31/19 - OzSky): at 244x; fairly faint, small, elongated 2:1 NNW-SSE, contains a brighter elongated core. Collinear with two stars 2.3' and 4.7' SE.
18" (5/12/07): fairly faint, fairly small, very elongated 3:1 NNW-SSE, 0.9'x0.3', nearly collinear with two mag 11.5 and 13 stars to the SE. First in a group with brightest member NGC 3801.
17.5" (4/1/95): faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1 NNW-SSE, very small brighter core, faint stellar nucleus at moments. Collinear with two mag 11.5 and 13 stars 2.3' and 4.7' SE, respectively. First in the NGC 3801 group and located 7.0' WSW of NGC 3801.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3790 = H. III-109 = h933 on
17 Apr 1784 (sweep 198) and recorded "I suspect a vS stellar nebula in the
same field with the preceding one [NGC 3801], about 8 or 10' distant and
south-preceding it. The suspected nebula is in a row with two small stars and
preceding them." His
description fits
******************************
NGC 3791 = MCG -01-30-020 = PGC 36156
11 39 41.7 -09 22 02; Crt
V = 13.7; Size 1.3'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.8; PA = 164°
17.5" (5/2/92): fairly faint, fairly small, slightly elongated, gradually brighter halo, small bright core. Located 6.0' N of mag 7.4 SAO 138326. Forms a pair with NGC 3771 8' W. Member of a large group (USGC S171).
William Herschel discovered NGC 3791 = H. III-609 = h935 on
22 Feb 1787 (sweep 705) and recorded "vF, vS, R, gradually brighter in the
middle. 240 showed it very
plainly." His RA is 30
seconds too small and falls very close to NGC 3771!. John Herschel's position and description ("vF; R;
gradually brighter in the middle; 20"; has a * 8m 6' south, on the same
meridian") matches
******************************
11 39 38.1 +05 06 00; Vir
= **?, Corwin. Not found, RNGC.
Edward Holden discovered NGC 3792 on 27 Apr 1881 with the 15.6-inch Clark refractor at the Washburn Observatory in Madison, WI. He noted "vF, diffused. Neb makes an isosceles triangle with D.M. 2523 and 2525. There is nothing at his position and there is no entry for NGC 3792 in any modern catalogue.
Harold Corwin noticed that a double star (~16" separation) ~6' north of the NGC position matches his description of making an isosceles triangle with DM 2523 and 2525. This double star is listed here.
******************************
11 40 02.0 +31 52 39; UMa
= *?, Gottlieb and Corwin. = Not found, Thomson.
Wilhelm Tempel discovered NGC 3793, along with
RNGC misidentifies
******************************
11 40 54.1 +56 12 10; UMa
V = 12.9; Size 2.2'x1.4'; Surf Br = 14.0; PA = 120°
17.5" (4/6/91): faint, fairly small, elongated 3:2 E-W, even surface brightness. A mag 13 star is at the WNW edge. Forms a wide pair with NGC 3780 13' WNW. Member of the NGC 3898 Group = LGG 250 (UMa NED2 Group).
William Herschel discovered NGC 3794 = H. III-773 on 14 Apr
1789 (sweep 920) and logged "cF, pS, just following a vS star." His position (Caroline's reduction) is
20 tsec preceding and 1' north of
He found the galaxy again on 18 Mar 1790 (sweep 951) and recorded "pB, E. I saw it too late to describe it properly." His position here is even cloer to UGC 6640, but he catalogued it as II-830 assuming it was new and Dreyer added it as NGC 3804. Dreyer noted the equivalence in his 1912 revision of WH's catalogues and mentioned in Malcolm Thomson's and Harold Corwin's correction lists.
RNGC misidentifes
******************************
11 40 06.7 +58 36 47; UMa
V = 13.1; Size 2.1'x0.5'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 53°
17.5" (4/14/01): spindle-shaped galaxy, fairly faint, elongated 7:2 SW-NE in the direction of a mag 12 star 5' SW, 1.4'x0.4'. In a galaxy group (LGG 246) with NGC 3757 27' SW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3795 = H. III-844 on 18 Mar
1790 (sweep 951) and noted "vF, mE, S." Caroline's reduced position
is 1.5' southeast of
******************************
11 40 31.1 +60 17 56; UMa
V = 12.6; Size 1.3'x0.9'; Surf Br = 12.7; PA = 127°
18" (3/5/05): moderately bright, fairly small, slightly elongated NW-SE, 0.6'x0.5', increases to a very small bright core and a stellar nucleus.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3796 = H. II-839 = h937 on
19 Mar 1790 (sweep 953) and recorded "pF, cS, R, mbM." Caroline's reduced RA is 27 tsec too
large. John Herschel made two
observations, noting on sweep 406 "pB; R; 35"; pretty gradually
brighter middle." His
position is within 1' of
******************************
11 40 13.3 +31 54 24; UMa
= *, Corwin. Not found, Thomson but ≠ NGC 3788.
Wilhelm Tempel discovered NGC 3797, along with NGC 3793, on 12 Feb 1882. At his offset from NGC 3786 is a single mag 15 star (see NGC 3793). Dorothy Carlson incorrectly equates NGC 3797 = NGC 3788 in her 1940 NGC Correction list and this is repeated in RNGC.
******************************
11 40 14.0 +24 41 49; Leo
V = 12.1; Size 2.5'x1.8'; Surf Br = 13.6; PA = 60°
17.5" (4/14/01): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated
4:3 WSW-ENE, 1.0'x0.7', moderate concentration with a small brighter core
visible with direct vision. In a
small group (LGG 245) with
William Herschel discovered NGC 3798 = H. II-340 = h938 on 6 Apr 1785 (sweep 393) and noted "F, vS, little brighter in the middle." Herschel observed it again on the next sweep (4 nights later) and recorded "vF, vS, stellar with a vF and very short ray towards the preceding side." John Herschel measured an accurate position.
******************************
11 40 09.4 +15 19 38; Leo
V = 13.9; Size 0.8'x0.5'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 115°
48" (3/1/19): NGC 3799 is the small and fainter
southwest member of an interacting pair (
17.5" (3/29/89): faint, very small, round. Forms a striking pair located just off the southwest end of NGC 3800 1.4' from center. A mag 12 star is 1.1' directly south, and a brighter mag 10.5 star is 2.9' SE.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3799 = h934 = h3355 on 21 Apr 1832. While observing NGC 3800 he noted, "F; E nf to sp; has another F neb [NGC 3799] attached to its preceding extremity." In a later sweep, he called it "an appendage to II 103 [NGC 3800], which it precedes." WH, in his observation of NGC 3800, noted "2 or 3 stars visible in it." One of these "stars" may refer to NGC 3799.
******************************
NGC 3800 = Arp 83 NED2 = VV 350a = UGC 6634 = MCG +03-30-039 = CGCG 097-049 = PGC 36197
11 40 13.4 +15 20 32; Leo
V = 12.7; Size 2.0'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 52°
48" (3/1/19): at 488x; bright, large, elongated nearly 3:1 SW-NE, 1.7'x0.55', large bright core, very irregular appearance. It appeared the SW portion of the galaxy extended further or was stretched in the direction of the companion NGC 3799 (the pair is Arp 83). The SW outer fringes had a lower surface brightness than the rest of the galaxy as it neared NGC 3799. The galaxy brightened slightly at the NE end of a spiral arm. NGC 3799 is centered 1.3' SW.
17.5" (3/29/89): moderately bright, fairly small, very elongated 3:1 SW-NE, 1.8'x0.5'. Forms a close pair with NGC 3799 just off the SW end 1.4' from the center. A mag 10.5 star is 3.2' SSE of center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3800 = H. II-103 = h936 = h3356 on 8 Apr 1784 (sweep 187) and noted "F, S, E, r. 2 or 3 star visible in it. The nebula is near some small stars." John Herschel made 5 observations at Slough and one at the Cape of Good Hope. His first observation (21 Apr 1832) reads "F; E nf to sp; has another F neb [NGC 3799] attached to its preceding extremity."
Lord Rosse first observed NGC 3800 on 1 Apr 1848 (when the 72" started use after the potatoe blight) and noted "a tolerably bright nebula with a smaller one following."
******************************
NGC 3801 = UGC 6635 = MCG +03-30-040 = CGCG 097-051 = Holm 273a = WBL 347-003 = LGG 246-002 = PGC 36200
11 40 16.8 +17 43 41; Leo
V = 12.0; Size 3.5'x2.1'; Surf Br = 14.1; PA = 120°
48" (4/2/11): the brightest of 6 galaxies in a 15'
group that is stretched out in a SW to NE orientation. At 375x appeared very bright, very
large, elongated 3:2 WNW-ESE, ~2.5'x1.7', sharply concentrated with a very
bright core and much fainter outer halo.
There is some ill-defined structure in the halo, either due to dust,
spiral arms or both. NGC 3802 is
2.3' N,
18" (5/12/07): moderately bright, fairly large but moderately low surface brightness, elongated 5:3 NW-SE, broad concentration with a brighter core that increases to a small, brighter nucleus. Brightest in a group including NGC 3790 7' W and NGC 3802 2.3' N.
17.5" (4/1/95): brightest in a group. Fairly faint, fairly small, elongated
3:2 NW-SE, 1.2'x0.8', broad concentration to a brighter core. Forms a close pair with NGC 3802 2.3'
NNE. Also in the field are NGC
3790 7.0' WSW and NGC 3806 8.1' NE.
Located 7' WNW of mag 8.7
William Herschel discovered NGC 3801 = H. III-30 = H. II-161
= h939 on 14 Mar 1784 (sweep 170) and recorded III-30 as "vF, pS, r,
preceded by two vB stars."
His position is only 8 sec of RA following NGC 3801 = UGC 6635, although
John Herschel (in the GC) and Dreyer (in the NGC) assumed it applied to NGC
3802, 2.3' north of NGC 3801. A
month later, on 17 Apr 1784 (sweep 198), he returned to the field and recorded
II-161 as "F, not S, R, bM."
His position on this sweep is 4' too far south. John Herschel made 3 observations and
his mean position matches
Since WH observed only one object near this position on both sweep 170 and 198, we can assume he picked up the brighter galaxy NGC 3801 both times, and missed NGC 3802. In fact, he was uncertain if H. II-161 was new or identical to H. III-30, so Caroline decided to assign it a new internal number. So, H. II-161 = H. III-30 = NGC 3801 and JH should be credited with the discovery of NGC 3802. Wolfgang Steinicke confirmed these conclusions (email on 7/15/14).
******************************
NGC 3802 = UGC 6636 = MCG +03-30-041 = CGCG 097-052 = Holm 273b = WBL 347-004 = LGG 246-003 = PGC 36203
11 40 18.8 +17 45 57; Leo
V = 13.3; Size 1.1'x0.3'; Surf Br = 11.9; PA = 85°
48" (4/2/11): this bright edge-on is located 2.3' N of NGC 3801 in a group of 6 galaxies. It appeared edge-on 5:1 E-W, 1.4'x0.3'. Contains a brighter, slightly bulging core. A mag 13.5 star is just off the following end, 1.0' from center. NGC 3803 lies 2.2' N.
25" (3/31/19 - OzSky): at 244x; fairly faint, moderately large, elongated 3:1 E-W, ~1.1'x0.3', brighter core, slightly brighter along the major axis. A mag 13.5 star is close to the east end. Forms a striking pair with NGC 3801.
18" (5/12/07): fairly faint, fairly small, edge-on 4:1 E-W, 1.2'x0.3'. A mag 13 star is just off the following end. Located 2' N of NGC 3801 in a group.
17.5" (4/1/95): faint, fairly small, very elongated 3:1 E-W, 1.2'x0.4', very weak concentration. Almost reaches to a mag 13.5 star just off the east end 1.0' from center. Located 2.3' NNE of NGC 3801 in a group.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3802 = h940 on 14 Mar 1784 and simply noted "last of 3 [with NGC 3790 and 3801]." He made 3 observations, though real description. WH is credited with the discovery (III-30) in the GC and NGC, although that number most likely applies to NGC 3801 (see that number).
******************************
11 40 17.3 +17 48 05; Leo
V = 15.7; Size 0.3'x0.2'
48" (4/2/11): this galaxy is the faintest of 5 NGC galaxies (and one MCG) in the NGC 3801 group. At 375x it appeared fairly faint, small, round, 20" diameter, slightly brighter core. Located 4.5' N of NGC 3801 and 2.2' N of NGC 3802.
17.5" (4/1/95): not seen with confidence.
R.J. Mitchell discovered NGC 3803 on 27 Mar 1856 with LdR's
72" and noted "A [on the diagram] is a vvF knot." The sketch
clearly matches
******************************
NGC 3804 = NGC 3794 = UGC 6640 = MCG +09-19-153 = CGCG 268-070 = CGCG 292-019 = LGG 250-003 = PGC 36238
11 40 54.1 +56 12 10; UMa
V = 12.9; Size 2.2'x1.4'; Surf Br = 14.0; PA = 120°
17.5" (4/6/91): faint, fairly small, elongated 3:2 E-W, even surface brightness. A mag 13 star is at the WNW edge. Forms a wide pair with NGC 3780 13' WNW. Member of the NGC 3898 Group = LGG 250 (UMa NED2 Group).
William Herschel rediscovered NGC 3804 = H. II-830 on 18 Mar 1790 (sweep 951) and recorded "pB, E. I saw it too late to describe it properly." Caroline's reduced position is within 2' of UGC 6640. He originally discovered this galaxy on 14 Apr 1789 (sweep 920) and logged "cF, pS, just following a vS star." It was catalogued as III-773 and later as NGC 3794. There was probably just enough difference in position and description for both Herschel and Dreyer to assume the objects were different, but there is only one galaxy here. So, NGC 3804 = NGC 3794. The primary designation should be NGC 3794 (earlier discovery), but it is known as NGC 3804 because of the more accurate position.
******************************
NGC 3805 = UGC 6642 = MCG +04-28-019 = CGCG 127-024 = PGC 36224
11 40 41.6 +20 20 35; Leo
V = 12.6; Size 1.4'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 60°
17.5" (4/15/93): fairly faint, small, elongated 4:3 SW-NE, small bright core dominates a small halo. A mag 13 star is 2.2' WSW. NGC 3787 lies 16' NW. Located at the western edge of AGC 1367.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3805 = H. III-375 = h941 on 25 Apr 1785 (sweep 401). He logged "extremely faint, small, but strong twilight and moonlight make it impossible to describe it properly." John Herschel reported "Not vF; S; R; bM." and measured a fairly accurate position.
******************************
NGC 3806 = UGC 6641 = MCG +03-30-042 = CGCG 097-054 = WBL 347-005 = PGC 36231
11 40 46.6 +17 47 47; Leo
V = 13.6; Size 1.4'x1.3'; Surf Br = 14.2
48" (4/2/11): last of 6 in the NGC 3801 group. At 375x appeared fairly bright, large,
slightly elongated N-S, 1.4'x1.2', broad weak concentration but no core. Located 8' NE of NGC 3801 and 5' N of mag 9.2
25" (3/31/19 - OzSky): at 244x; fairly faint, fairly large, slightly elongated N-S, ~45" diameter, weak concentration with only a slightly brighter middle.
17.5" (4/1/95): very faint, fairly small, round, low surface brightness glow with no concentration. Collinear with two mag 12.5-13 stars to the SSW by 2.5' and 4.5'. Located 5' N of mag 8.7 SAO 99729 and 8' NE of NGC 3801 in a group.
Bindon Stoney, LdR's assistant, discovered NGC 3806 on 3 Apr
1851. While observing NGC 3802 he
noted "another vF neb, about 6' nf." On 6 Apr 1855, R.J. Mitchell logged it as "vvF, R,
little brighter in the middle."
Heinrich d'Arrest independently discovered this galaxy on 21 Apr 1862 and noted a mag 9-10 star is 5' south. His position is accurate and both John Herschel (in the GC) and Dreyer (in the NGC) credited d'Arrest with the discovery, although d'Arrest commented his object might be identical to one of the two LdR novae mentioned in the 1861 publication.
******************************
11 40 54.7 +17 49 07; Leo
= *, Corwin. "Not found", Carlson. = NGC 3806, UGC.
R.J. Mitchell discovered NGC 3807 on 27 Mar 1856 and noted "C [on the sketch] is a vvF knot or possibly a star." The diagram shows object "C" to the northeast of NGC 3807 ("B"). There is nothing in this position and Bigourdan and Reinmuth reported negative findings. UGC, PGC (and other secondary sources such as Megastar) equate NGC 3806 = NGC 3807, but Mitchell's object is very likely the mag 16.5 star identified by Harold Corwin.
******************************
11 40 44.2 +22 25 46; Leo
V = 13.5; Size 1.7'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.7; PA = 123°
48" (4/20/17): NGC 3808 is the brighter member of a
remarkable interacting pair with
17.5" (4/15/93): faint, small, slightly elongated 4:3
NW-SE, weak concentration, very faint stellar nucleus. Located 3.5' NNE of mag 9.1 SAO
81939. Forms a close, interacting
pair (
William Herschel discovered NGC 3808 = H. III-338 on 10 Apr 1785 (sweep 394) and noted "vF, vS." Caroline's reduction is 10 seconds of RA east and 3.8' north of this interacting system.
******************************
11 41 16.1 +59 53 09; UMa
V = 12.7; Size 1.0'x0.8'; Surf Br = 12.4; PA = 123°
18" (5/31/03): moderately bright, fairly small, round, 0.8' diameter, well-concentrated with a small, prominent core and stellar nucleus. Very symmetrical appearance.
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3809 on 20 Aug 1866 with
the 11" refractor at Copenhagen.
His position (measured twice) matches
******************************
11 40 58.7 +11 28 17; Leo
V = 10.8; Size 4.3'x3.0'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 15°
17.5" (5/2/92): bright, fairly large, elongated 3:2 SSW-NNE, broad concentration, increases to brighter core but no nucleus, large very faint halo of dimensions 3.0'x2.0'. A group of three mag 11-12 stars mag is located between 9'-11' S.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3810 = H. I-21 = h943 on 15 Mar 1784 (sweep 174) and noted "pB, L, lE, r." His position was 50 seconds of RA too far east. John Herschel made 5 observations, the earliest on 10 Apr 1823 (sweep 2), while still developing his sweeping technique: "vF; R; very gradually brighter middle; a *9m 15' dist in parallel."
Several interesting observations were made at Birr Castle. On 18 Mar 1851, Bindon Stoney recorded "BM, F neby all round of a mottled charachter, knot or appendage in the p part. On 10 Apr 1852, he queried "Spriral? gradually little brighter middle." Dreyer, though, observing in 1878, comments "Beyond doubt a glob cl, outlying F branches on a F background which fades away gradually."
******************************
11 41 16.6 +47 41 27; UMa
V = 12.3; Size 2.2'x1.7'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 160°
18" (5/31/03): fairly faint, moderately large, oval elongated nearly 3:2 N-S, 1.5'x1.1', broadly concentrated.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3811 = H. II-737 = h942 on 9
Mar 1788 (sweep 816) and noted "pF, S, little brighter middle,
iR." Caroline's reduction is
8 sec of RA east of
******************************
NGC 3812 = UGC 6648 = MCG +04-28-023 = CGCG 127-027 = WBL 348-001 = PGC 36256
11 41 07.8 +24 49 18; Leo
V = 12.6; Size 1.7'x1.6'; Surf Br = 13.4
17.5" (4/15/93): moderately bright, small, round,
prominent core, fairly high surface brightness. Located 1.7' WNW of mag 8.4
William Herschel discovered NGC 3812 = H. III-320 = h944 on 6 Apr 1785 (sweep 393) and simply noted "stellar", probably rushed in the observation. John Herschel recorded "F; R; has a * 6.7 m sf, dist 3'.
******************************
11 41 18.7 +36 32 47; UMa
V = 11.6; Size 2.2'x1.1'; Surf Br = 12.5; PA = 87°
17.5" (4/1/95): fairly bright, fairly large, very
elongated 3:1 WSW-ENE, 2.4'x0.8'.
Broad concentration to a large brighter core which brightens to a small
nucleus. Mottled appearance with
an irregular surface brightness. A
mag 14 star is at the east end 1.3' from center. Two mag 14 stars just off the west end 2.1' and 2.8' from center
are collinear with the major axis.
A mag 15 star is close SW of the core by 1.2'. Located 13' ENE of mag 7.8
William Herschel discovered NGC 3813 = H. I-94 = h945 on 28
Apr 1785 (sweep 404). He recorded "cB, pL, much extended nearly in the
meridian. His position is 10
seconds of RA west of
******************************
11 41 27.7 +24 48 19; Leo
V = 14.8; Size 0.8'x0.4'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 175°
17.5" (4/15/93): second and faintest of three with NGC 3812 5' W and NGC 3815 2.5' E. Very faint, very small, round. Located 3.1' E of mag 8.4 SAO 81942.
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3814 = St. 11-14 on 14 Mar 1874, during an observation of NGC 3812 and 3815. His published position (list 11, #14) was determined 7 years later on 25 Apr 1881.
******************************
NGC 3815 = UGC 6654 = MCG +04-28-025 = CGCG 127-030 = Holm 276a = WBL 348-003 = PGC 36288
11 41 39.3 +24 48 01; Leo
V = 13.0; Size 1.7'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 72°
17.5" (4/15/93): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1 WSW-ENE, broad concentration. Last in a small group (LGG 245) with NGC 3814 2.5' W, NGC 3812 6.7' WNW and NGC 3798 20' WSW. Located 5.8' ESE of mag 8.4 SAO 81942.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3815 = H. III-339 = h946 on 10 Apr 1785 (sweep 394) and recorded "vF, vS, goes into the field with the foregoing [NGC 3812]. He discovered NGC 3812 4 nights earlier, but missed NGC 3815. John Herschel called this galaxy "Not vF; pL; 30"." and measured an accurate position.
******************************
11 41 48.0 +20 06 14; Leo
V = 12.5; Size 1.9'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 70°
17.5" (3/12/88): moderately bright, fairly small,
elongated WSW-ENE, bright core, stellar nucleus. Member of AGC 1367.
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3816 on 9 May 1864. His position, measured on two nights, is accurate.
******************************
11 41 53.0 +10 18 16; Leo
V = 13.3; Size 1.0'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 140°
17.5" (4/25/87): fairly faint, fairly small, oval ~E-W,
brighter core. A mag 11 star is
2.7' NNW of center. First of five
in the field in
John Herschel discovered NGC 3817 = h947 on 18 Jan 1828 and noted "F. The first of 4 [with NGC 3819, 3822 and 3825]." His position is at the south edge of NGC 3817.
******************************
11 41 57.3 -06 09 21; Vir
V = 11.7; Size 2.0'x1.2'; Surf Br = 12.7; PA = 103°
17.5" (5/10/86): fairly bright, fairly small, oval, very bright core containing a stellar nucleus.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3818 = H. III-284 = h948 on 5 Mar 1785 (sweep 379) and recorded "vF, S, iE, little brighter in the middle." His RA is 33 sec too large. John Herschel logged "B; R; pretty suddenly brighter middle; 30". At least 2nd class." His position is accurate.
******************************
NGC 3819 = HCG 58D = MCG +02-30-013 = CGCG 068-030 = WBL 350-002 = PGC 36311
11 42 05.9 +10 21 04; Leo
V = 13.8; Size 0.8'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 160°
17.5" (4/25/87): very faint, small, round, small bright core, stellar nucleus. Second of five in HCG 58, located 4.2' NE of NGC 3817. Forms a close pair with NGC 3820 2.0' N.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3819 = h950 on 18 Jan 1828 and noted "vF; the second of 4 [with NGC 3817, 3822 and 3825]; place estimated from the others."
******************************
NGC 3820 = HCG 58E = MCG +02-30-014 = CGCG 068-031 = WBL 350-003 = PGC 36308
11 42 04.9 +10 23 02; Leo
V = 14.5; Size 0.7'x0.4'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 20°
17.5" (4/25/87): extremely faint, small, almost round, diffuse, even surface brightness. Located 2.0' N of NGC 3819 and 5.5' NNE of NGC 3817. Third of five (and faintest) in HCG 58.
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3820 on 29 Apr 1865 and accurately placed it 2' north of h950 = NGC 3819.
******************************
11 42 09.0 +20 18 56; Leo
V = 12.9; Size 1.4'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.4
17.5" (3/12/88): fairly faint, very small, round, very small bright core. A mag 14 star is at the SW edge and a mag 10 star lies 2.9' W. Member of AGC 1367 cluster.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3821 = H. III-376 = h949 on 26 Apr 1785 (sweep 402). He logged, "suspected, very faint, very small. I am pretty sure of it; but twilight is too strong." This galaxy is the last discovery (1000th object) that was included in Herschel's first catalogue. He observed it again on 27 Dec 1786 (sweep 671), but was again uncertain: "two very small stars with seeming nebulosity between them, but probably a deception. In the direction of the meridian nearly."
John Herschel made two observations, recording on 26 Mar 1830 (sweep 246) "vF; S; R; pretty suddenly brighter middle; a * 11m precedes 10s."
******************************
NGC 3822 = HCG 58A = NGC 3848? = UGC 6661 = MCG +02-30-015 =
11 42 11.1 +10 16 40; Vir
V = 13.1; Size 1.4'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 178°
17.5" (4/25/87): fairly faint, small, oval N-S, brighter core. Brightest in HCG 58 and the fourth of five in the field within the NGC 3817-3869 group. Forms a close pair with NGC 3825 3.2' ESE on the Leo-Virgo border.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3822 = H. II-153 = h951, along with NGC 3825, on 15 Apr 1784 (sweep 194) and recorded both as "Two F, pS, cometic nebula." His single position is just 1'-2' too far south. He probably found this pair a month ealrier (15 Mar 1784, sweep 174), but his position was 2.0 tmin too far east and they were recorded as III-35 = NGC 3848 and III-36 = NGC 3852. If so, NGC 3822 = NGC 3848.
******************************
11 42 15.1 -13 52 01; Crt
V = 12.7; Size 1.5'x1.2'; Surf Br = 13.8; PA = 90°
18" (3/19/04): fairly faint, fairly small, slightly
elongated E-W, weak concentration, 0.7'x0.6'. Situated directly between two mag 13-14 stars 2' N and 2'
S.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3823 = h3357 on 7 May 1836 and
logged "F; lE; pretty suddenly little brighter middle;
40"." His position is
just off the north side of
******************************
11 42 44.9 +52 46 47; UMa
V = 13.6; Size 1.3'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 118°
18" (5/31/03): faint, small, elongated 2:1 WNW-ESE,
0.7'x0.35', pretty even surface brightness. A mag 13 star lies 2.0' SW. Forms a pair with
William Herschel discovered NGC 3824 = H. III-774 = h952 on 14 Apr 1789 (sweep 920) and noted "vF, vS." His position (Caroline's reduction) -- 1.0 tmin too large and 3' south of UGC 6676, but his relative position with nearby NGC 3829 (recorded next in the sweep) is reasonably accurate. A more accurate position was measured on 17 Mar 1790 (sweep 946). John Herschel logged "vF, mE" and measured a good position.
******************************
NGC 3825 = HCG 58B = NGC 3852? = UGC 6668 = MCG +02-30-018 =
11 42 23.7 +10 15 51; Vir
V = 13.0; Size 1.3'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 160°
17.5" (4/25/87): fairly faint, very small, round, small bright core, stellar nucleus. Fifth of five (second brightest) in HCG 58 with NGC 3822 3.2' WNW. Also located within the larger NGC 3817-3869 group on the Leo-Virgo border.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3825 = H. II-154 = h953, along with NGC 3822, on 15 Apr 1784 (sweep 194) and recorded both as "Two F, pS, cometic nebula." His single position is just 1'-2' too far south. He probably found this pair a month earlier (15 Mar 1784, sweep 174), but his position was 2.0 tmin too far east and the pair was recorded as III-35 = NGC 3848 and III-36 = NGC 3852. If so, NGC 3825 = NGC 3852.
******************************
11 42 32.8 +26 29 20; Leo
V = 13.3; Size 0.9'x0.7'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 65°
17.5" (4/15/93): faint, very small, round, bright core,
stellar nucleus. A close trio of
mag 14 stars is 8' NE.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3826 = H. II-341 = h954 on 6 Apr 1785 (sweep 393) and noted "F, stellar." John Herschel made 3 observations, calling it "pB; R; pretty suddenly brighter middle; 15"."
******************************
11 42 36.3 +18 50 44; Leo
V = 13.3; Size 0.9'x0.7'; Surf Br = 12.7; PA = 65°
17.5" (5/4/02): fairly faint, fairly small, slightly
elongated ~E-W, 0.8'x0.6', very weak concentration. Located midway between mag 9.1
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3827 on 29 Dec 1861 with the 11-inch refractor at Copenhagen. His single position is accurate and his description mentions a mag 16 star is 21 seconds of time preceding and a bit south. The star is at his offset, though only 14th magnitude.
******************************
11 42 58.4 +16 29 15; Leo
V = 14.4; Size 0.8'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.8
17.5" (3/29/89): very faint, very small, round. A mag 11 star is 1.7' SE. Forms a pair with edge-on
Guillaume Bigourdan discovered NGC 3828 = Big. 46 on 28 Mar 1886. His position matches CGCG 097-075, though CGCG (and the UGC notes to UGC 6686) fail to label this galaxy as NGC 3828. MCG labels it correctly. Mentioned by Malcolm Thomson in his "CGCG Corrections" and in Harld Corwin's identification notes.
******************************
NGC 3829 = UGC 6690 = MCG +09-19-164 = CGCG 268-074 = PGC 36439
11 43 27.3 +52 42 40; UMa
V = 14.0; Size 1.1'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 95°
18" (5/31/03): very faint, small, elongated 4:3 ~E-W, 0.5'x0.35', weak concentration. Forms a pair with brighter NGC 3824 8' NW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3829 = H. III-775 = h955 on
14 Apr 1789 (sweep 920) and noted "suspected; vF, vS." His position is poor -- 37 tsec too
large and 2' south of
******************************
NGC 3830 = MCG +05-28-024 = MCG +05-28-025 = CGCG 157-023 =
11 43 11.8 +26 33 32; Leo
V = 14.3; Size 0.7'x0.4'; Surf Br = 12.7; PA = 9°
17.5" (4/15/93): very faint, very small, round. Forms an equilateral triangle with two
mag 13 stars 1.5' W and 1.5' SW.
The identification of NGC 3830 is uncertain and the number may be a duplicate observation of NGC 3826.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3830 = h956 on 19 Apr 1832 and
simply logged "Cloudy; hardly discernible." His position is 3.7'
south of
Corwin suggests that NGC 3830 is probably a duplicate of NGC 3826, which is located 43 sec of RA west but with the same declination. NGC 3826 was observed on three sweeps but NGC 3830 was recorded on a different sweep. Both NED and LEDA equate NGC 3830 = NGC 3826. See Corwin's notes.
******************************
NGC 3831 = MCG -02-30-023 = PGC 36417
11 43 18.6 -12 52 42; Crt
V = 12.7; Size 2.7'x0.6'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 23°
18" (3/19/04): fairly faint, elongated 5:2 SSW-NNE, 1.2'x0.4'. Contains a small, bright core and very faint extensions which fades at the tip. Surrounded by several MCG galaxies, though these were not searched for. A mag 9 star lies 6' N. NGC 3823 lies 1° south.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3831 = h957 on 9 Mar 1828 and
logged "F; vS; R; bM. Well
observed." His position is
within 1' of
******************************
11 43 31.4 +22 43 31; Leo
V = 13.0; Size 1.9'x1.6'; Surf Br = 14.1
18" (5/30/03): faint, moderately large, round, 1.2' diameter, low surface brightness, very weak concentration. A mag 11 star is 2.2' NW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3832 = H. III-340 on 10 Apr
1785 (sweep 394) and recorded "vF, pL. I suspected two stellar near it, but could not ascertain
with 240 whether they were stars or nebula as I could not stop long enough to
view them sufficiently."
Caroline's reduction is 5' due north of
******************************
11 43 28.8 +10 09 43; Vir
V = 13.5; Size 1.4'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 27°
17.5" (4/25/87): very faint, fairly small, very
diffuse, elongated SSW-NNE. A very
faint mag 15.5 star is off the SW end 0.9' from center. Forms a pair with
William Herschel discovered NGC 3833 = H. III-102 on 15 Apr
1784 (sweep 194) and noted "eF, pL." Caroline's reduction is 3' south of
******************************
11 43 37.7 +19 05 26; Leo
V = 13.9; Size 1.4'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.6; PA = 132°
17.5" (5/4/02): faint, very small, round, 0.8' diameter
(viewed core only?). Located 9' SW
of mag 9.2
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3834 on 29 Dec 1861 with
the 11-inch refractor at Copenhagen.
His single position is 30" north of
******************************
11 44 04.9 +60 07 11; UMa
V = 12.4; Size 1.9'x0.8'; Surf Br = 12.7; PA = 60°
18" (5/31/03): moderately bright, moderately large,
elongated 5:2 SW-NE. Broad
concentration with a large, slightly brighter middle and slightly fainter
extensions. Extended in the
direction of a mag 12 star 3.6' NE.
Located 7' NW of mag 7.7
John Herschel discovered NGC 3835 = h958 on 14 Apr 1831 and recorded "pF; lE; gradually brighter in the middle; preceds * 8m, 5' distant. His position (measured twice) is good, though the star is 7' southeast.
******************************
11 43 29.7 -16 47 40; Crt
V = 12.9; Size 1.4'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.4
18" (3/19/04): fairly faint, elongated 3:2 or 2:1 NW-SE, ~0.9'x0.6'. Appears brighter along a major axis NW-SE, surrounded by a rounder, faint halo. A mag 12-13 star is just off the north flank, perhaps 45" from the center.
Wilhelm Tempel discovered NGC 3836 = T. 1-36 = T. 4-8 on 29 Apr 1877. On the SDSS, the foreground star happens to lie at the exact tip of the northern spiral arm.
******************************
11 43 56.4 +19 53 41; Leo
V = 13.3; Size 0.6'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.2
17.5" (2/20/88): faint, small, slightly elongated,
brighter core. This is the second
brightest galaxy in the core of the galaxy cluster AGC 1367 and lies 3.6' SSW
of
13.1" (2/25/84): faint, small, round. Second brightest in the core of the cluster.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3837 = H. III-377 = h961, along with NGC 3842, on 26 Apr 1785 (sweep 402). He described both as "two, the time and NPD is that of the most north [NGC 3842], which is the largest and brightest; and is vF, pS. The most south [NGC 3837] eF; vS, but twilight is too strong to determine them properly." His RA was 10 seconds too small.
John Herschel made two observations, measured an accurate position, and assumed it was new. Dreyer concluded in the his revision of William Herschel's catalogues that h961 = H. III-377 = NGC 3837.
******************************
11 44 13.8 +57 56 53; UMa
V = 12.3; Size 1.5'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.2; PA = 141°
24" (5/20/20): at 375x; very pretty edge-on at 375x, bright, moderately large, elongated 3:1 NW-SE, 1.0'x0.35', very strong concentration with a very bright core and an intensely bright nucleus. A mag 12.1 star is 3' S. Brightest member of the LGG 246 group.
18" (5/31/03): moderately bright, fairly small, elongated 5:2 NW-SE, 0.8'x0.3', spindle-shaped. Sharp concentration with a very small bright core and stellar nucleus. A mag 12 star lies 3.2' S. Member of the LGG 246 group along with NGC 3757 and NGC 3795.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3838 = H. II-831 = h959 on
18 Mar 1790 (sweep 951) and logged "pB, vS, lE." Caroline's reduced position is within
1' of
******************************
11 43 54.3 +10 47 06; Leo
V = 13.6; Size 1.0'x0.5'; Surf Br = 12.7; PA = 87°
24" (5/20/20): at 225x and 375x; fairly faint,
moderately large, ~50"x30", relatively large slightly elongated
central region, low surface brightness outer halo extended E-W. Located 6' NNW of mag 8.1
17.5" (4/25/87): fairly faint, fairly small, weak
concentration, elongated WSW-ENE.
Forms the north vertex of near equilateral triangle with mag 8.5 SAO
99760 6.0' SSE and mag 8.4
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3839 = St. 12-48 on 17 Mar 1882. He reduced the position the following month (19 Apr 1882) and included it in his 12th discovery list (#48).
******************************
11 43 58.9 +20 04 37; Leo
V = 13.8; Size 1.1'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 67°
17.5" (2/20/88): very faint, very small, irregularly
round, broad concentration.
Located 2.9' NNW of
13.1" (2/25/84): very faint, very small, round. This is the farthest northern galaxy in
the core of AGC 1367. Appears
similar to NGC 3844 and
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3840 on 8 May 1864 with the
11-inch refractor at Copenhagen.
His position, measured on two nights, matches
******************************
11 44 02.2 +19 58 19; Leo
V = 13.6; Size 0.7'x0.7'; Surf Br = 12.6
17.5" (2/20/88): very faint, extremely small, small bright core. Located 1.3' N of NGC 3842 in the central core of AGC 1367. Nearby are NGC 3845 1.7' NNW, and UGC 6697 3.0' W.
13.1" (2/25/84): extremely faint, very small, in central core of AGC 1367.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3841 = h960 = Big. 48 on 25 Mar
1827 and simply noted "F; R."
On a later sweep (334) he recorded "vF; S; the first of 4 [with NGC
3837, 3842 and 3845." All
modern catalogues equate NGC 3841 with
Heinrich d'Arrest's #118 in his AN 1500 discovery list matches CGCG 097-096, so he clearly observed this galaxy. In his main monograph "Siderum Nebulosorum" he gives an uncertain equivalence with h960. Harold Corwin's equates Big. 48 with NGC 3841. The MCG reverses the identifications of NGC 3841 and 3842.
******************************
NGC 3842 = UGC 6704 = MCG +03-30-072 = CGCG 097-095 = PGC 36487
11 44 02.1 +19 57 00; Leo
V = 11.8; Size 1.4'x1.0'; Surf Br = 12.2; PA = 5°
17.5" (2/20/88): moderately bright, fairly small,
round, small bright core. A mag 15
star is 0.8' SE of core. Brightest
and largest in core of the rich cluster AGC 1367 with NGC 3841 1.3' N, UGC 6697
3.2' WNW, NGC 3845 2.9' NNE, NGC 3837 3.6' SSW and
13.1" (2/25/84): moderately bright, moderately large, bright core, many companions.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3842 = H. III-378 = h962, along with NGC 3837, on 26 Apr 1785 (sweep 402). His description reads "Two, the time and NPD is that of the most north [NGC 3842], which is the largest and brightest; and is very faint, pretty small. The most south [NGC 3837] eF; vS, but twilight is too strong to determine them properly."
John Herschel misassigned H. III-377 to h962 and H. III-378
to h966 = NGC 3851 in the GC and Dreyer repeated this in the NGC. Édouard Stephan observed NGC 3842 on 16
Mar 1882 and also discovered (but didn't publish) UGC 6697. According to Harold Corwin, Bigourdan
discovered nearby
******************************
11 43 54.7 +07 55 33; Vir
V = 13.5; Size 0.9'x0.4'; Surf Br = 12.2; PA = 42°
17.5" (3/24/90): faint, fairly small, very elongated SW-NE, small bright core.
Edward Holden discovered NGC 3843 on 27 Apr 1881 with the
15.6-inch Clark refractor at the Washburn Observatory. and recorded "F;
elongated 225° [SW-NE]. Follows a
star 11m by 14s [of time]."
His position and description matches
******************************
NGC 3844 = UGC 6705 = MCG +03-30-069 = CGCG 097-097 = PGC 36481
11 44 00.8 +20 01 46; Leo
V = 13.9; Size 1.2'x0.2'; Surf Br = 12.4; PA = 28°
17.5" (3/12/88): very faint, very small, slightly elongated, broad concentration, faint stellar nucleus. Located in the core of AGC 1367 4.8' N of NGC 3842. Nearby are NGC 3845 2.3' SE, NGC 3841 3.4' S, NGC 3840 2.9' N.
13.1" (2/25/84): very faint, very small, round, brighter core, similar to NGC 3840 and NGC 3845.
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3844 (#119 in his AN 1500
list) on 8 May 1864 with the 11-inch refractor at Copenhagen. His position, measured on two nights,
matches
******************************
NGC 3845 = MCG +03-30-074 = CGCG 097-100 = PGC 36470
11 44 05.5 +19 59 45; Leo
V = 14.5; Size 0.9'x0.4'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 135°
17.5" (2/20/88): very faint, very small, slightly elongated, bright core. Located 1.6' NNE of NGC 3841 in the core of AGC 1367.
13.1" (2/25/84): very faint, very small.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3845 = h963 on 17 Mar 1831 and
recorded "vF; pS; the last of 4 [with NGC 3841, 3837 and 3842]. There are however 3 or 4 more nebulae
in this neighbourhood." His
position is 0.8' southwest of
******************************
11 44 29.1 +55 39 08; UMa
V = 13.9; Size 1.1'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 135°
17.5" (3/19/88): faint, fairly small, oval NW-SE. First in a group of five galaxies with
John Herschel discovered NGC 3846 = h964 on 10 Feb 1831 and
recorded "F; pL; R; very gradually brighter middle." His single position is barely off the
southwest edge of
******************************
11 44 14.0 +33 30 52; UMa
V = 13.3; Size 1.1'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.5
17.5" (4/14/01): faint, small, round, slightly brighter
core. A close pair (
John Herschel discovered NGC 3847 = h965 on 3 Apr 1831 and
recorded "not vF; S; R pretty suddenly brighter in the middle." His position matches
******************************
NGC 3848 = HCG 58A = NGC 3822 = UGC 6661 = MCG +02-30-015 = CGCG 068-033 = WBL 350-004 = PGC 36319
11 42 11.1 +10 16 40; Vir
See observing notes for NGC 3822.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3848 = H. III-35, along with
The RNGC identifies MCG +02-30-023 = CGCG 068-046 as NGC
3848 (the closest galaxy to his position) though there is only a single object
here "in the same parallel of declination". Malcolm Thomson feels that
Harold Corwin suggests that NGC 3848 and NGC 3852 are probably duplicate observations of NGC 3822 and NGC 3825 (found again by WH a month later!). This pair is 2.0 min of RA west of WH's position and 1-2' south. The separation of this pair is 3.2' (roughly east-west), agreeing with WH's description, so this identification seems more liekly likely.
******************************
11 45 35.2 +03 13 54; Vir
V = 13.7; Size 0.8'x0.5'; Surf Br = 12.7; PA = 35°
24" (4/15/23): at 229x and 375x; fairly faint, small, elongated at least 3:2 SW-NE, 20"-24" length
48" (4/16/15): at 488x; moderately bright, fairly small, oval 3:2 or 5:3 SW-NE, 0.5'x0.3', small bright core, fairly high surface brightness. A mag 16.3 star is off the southeast side [27" from center]. An extremely faint "star" was noted off the northwest side [25" from center]. After later checking the SDSS, I discovered this is a compact galaxy (SDSS J114534.52+031417.8) with V = 17.8.
17.5" (4/9/99): faint, small, slightly elongated SW-NE, 25" diameter, no concentration. Visible steadily with direct vision. A mag 15 star lies 1.6' SSW. This galaxy is identified as IC 730 (good position from Javelle) in several sources.
David Todd discovered NGC 3849 = Todd 10 on 11 Feb 1878 in his search for trans-Neptunian planets with the 26-inch refractor at the Naval Observatory. He noted a "large and nebulous" object with a star 2' in PA ~210° (SSW). There is nothing at his rough position, but using Todd's discovery sketch, Harold Corwin identifies NGC 3849 = CGCG 040-040.
Stephane Javelle found this galaxy on 22 Mar 1893 with the
30-inch refractor at the Nice Observatory and measured an accurate position. Javelle and Dreyer assumed J.
2–728 was new, so it acquired the designation
******************************
NGC 3850 = UGC 6733 = MCG +09-19-174 = CGCG 268-079 = LGG 250-004 = PGC 36660
11 45 35.6 +55 53 12; UMa
V = 13.3; Size 2.2'x1.1'; Surf Br = 14.1; PA = 130°
18" (2/14/10): fairly faint, fairly large oval 3:2
NW-SE, 1.6'x1.1', low surface brightness, very weak concentration. Located 17' WSW of
17.5" (3/19/88): faint, fairly small, diffuse oval NW-SE. Second of five in a group with NGC 3846 17' SW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3850 = H. III-776 on 14 Apr
1789 (sweep 920) and recorded "eF, pL, lE. Time inaccurate, left doubtful." There is nothing at his position but
exactly 1.0 min of RA east is
******************************
NGC 3851 = MCG +03-30-077 = CGCG 097-106 = PGC 36516
11 44 20.4 +19 58 51; Leo
V = 14.4; Size 0.6'x0.45'; Surf Br = 12.7; PA = 83°
17.5" (2/20/88): very faint, extremely small, round, just non-stellar. Forms a faint "pair" with a mag 14.5 star 37" W of center. Located 4.7' ENE of NGC 3842 in the core of AGC 1367.
13.1" (2/25/84): extremely faint, stellar. Located east of a faint star.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3851 = h966 on 24 Feb 1827 and logged "vF; R; the nf of 2." He mistakenly equated H. III-378 with this galaxy, instead of h962 = NGC 3842 and this error was repeated in the NGC. WH did not record this object.
******************************
NGC 3852 = HCG 58B = NGC 3825? = UGC 6668 = MCG +02-30-018 = CGCG 068-037 = WBL 350-005 = PGC 36348
11 42 23.7 +10 15 51; Vir
See observing notes for NGC 3825.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3852 = H. III-36, along with NGC 3848, on 15 Mar 1784 (sweep 174). He described both as "Two, very small, and eF. Their situation is in the same parallel of declination, and distance perhaps 3 or 4 minutes. It took up some time to see them well." There are no pair of galaxies fitting this description near his position and both numbers were equated by Dreyer in his 1912 NGC Correction list (repeated by Reinmuth).
In his 1912 update of WH's catalogues, Dreyer notes that NGC 3852 was not found by Bigourdan but possibly there was a 1 tmin error in RA in reducing the position. Corwin suggests NGC 3848 and NGC 3852 may be duplicate observations of NGC 3822 and NGC 3825. These galaxies have the same declination and 3.2' separation but lie 2.0 tmin west of H's position. So, NGC 3852 = NGC 3825 and NGC 3848 = NGC 3822 seems the most likely scenario, although this identification is uncertain.
******************************
11 44 28.3 +16 33 29; Leo
V = 12.4; Size 1.7'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 140°
17.5" (3/29/89): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated NW-SE, halo increases to a small bright core.
Alphonse Borrelly found NGC 3853 around 1871 with a 7.2-inch
comet-seeker at the Marseilles Observatory. His description reads "R, lE,
small ncl at center" and his micrometric position in AN 1885 (4th object)
matches
William Herschel probably discovered this galaxy on 30 Dec 1783 (sweep 72) and logged "Some minutes after 32, I saw a small nebula, but in looking a good while at the finder to determine its place, lost is again. I suspect partly that is consists of a few vS stars, but shall look for it another night." Although he was completely uncertain of the minute of RA (so didn't catalogue it), his polar distance is an exact match with NGC 3853.
******************************
11 44 52.1 -09 13 58; Crt
V = 12.0; Size 2.0'x1.5'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 49°
See observing notes for
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3854 = LM 2-449 in 1886 and reported "mag 14.5, 0.3' dia, lE 70°, gradually brighter then suddenly brighter in the middle to a nucleus." There is nothing close to his position. The brightest galaxy in the vicinity is NGC 3865 = PGC 36581, 28 seconds of RA east and 9' north. Harold Corwin lists this galaxy as the most likely candidate. Due to the unusually large discrepancy in declination and only a fair match in PA (70°), this identification is very uncertain. RNGC classifies the number as nonexistent. See Corwin's notes.
******************************
NGC 3855 = IC 2953 = UGC 6709 = MCG +06-26-025 = CGCG 186-033 = WAS 31 = PGC 36508
11 44 25.8 +33 21 18; UMa
V = 14.0; Size 1.1'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.8; PA = 65°
17.5" (4/14/01): faint, small, round, 0.8', low even surface brightness
17.5" (2/24/90): very faint, very small, round, low
surface brightness. On a line with
two mag 14 stars located 6'-7' SE.
In a group with NGC 3847 10' NNW,
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3855 on 8 May 1864 with the 11-inch refractor at Copenhagen. His single observation gives a rough declination (marked to the nearest arcmin and very uncertain) and mentions a companion to the north [NGC 3856], though without a position or even offset. There are a number of galaxies in the vicinity, but none exactly matching in RA.
When Rudolph Spitaler looked for the pair in 1891 with
27-inch refractor at the Wien Observatory, he identified
UGC, MCG and CGCG label these galaxies using the IC
designations. RNGC, MCG and CGCG
identify
If we accept Spitaler's corrected positions in the IC 2 notes, then NGC 3855 = IC 2952 and NGC 3856 = IC 2953. Malcolm Thomson proposes NGC 3855 = IC 2953 and NGC 3856 = CGCG 186-036, though the fainter galaxy would be located southeast, instead of north as d'Arrest mentions. Harold Corwin argues d'Arrest most likely picked up the two brightest galaxies in the vicinity. So, he proposes NGC 3855 = IC 2953 and NGC 3856 = NGC 3847, though the latter galaxy is nearly 10' to the north. So, although NGC 3855 is most likely IC 2953 (brightest galaxy nearest d'Arrest's position), the identification of NGC 3856 is very uncertain.
******************************
NGC 3856 = MCG +06-26-028 = CGCG 186-036 = WBL 354-006 = PGC 36569
11 44 44.9 +33 19 16; UMa
V = 14.8; Size 0.7'x0.6'
17.5" (4/14/01): extremely faint, small, round. Requires averted vision and cannot hold steadily. Located 4.5' ESE of IC 2953 = NGC 3855.
The identification of NGC 3856 = CGCG 186-036 is very uncertain and this number may be a duplicate observation of NGC 3847.
See notes for NGC 3855.
******************************
11 44 50.1 +19 31 58; Leo
V = 14.1; Size 1.0'x0.6'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 40°
17.5" (3/12/88): faint, small, slightly elongated
SW-NE, bright core, stellar nucleus.
Located 3.3' NW of mag 8.1
13.1" (2/25/84): very faint, very small, round. A fairly bright star is 3.5' SE. Appears similar to
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3857 = St. 13-63 = Sw. 1-13,
along with NGC 3859 and 3864, and reduced the position on 23 Mar 1884. The original discovery date is
uncertain, though Stephan discovered
******************************
11 45 11.7 -09 18 51; Crt
See observing notes for
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3858 = LM 2-450 in 1886 and reported "mag 15.6, 0.1' dia, R, gradually brighter in the middle, *9.5 preceding 3 sec [of time]." His position is 30 sec of RA west of NGC 3866 = PGC 36621 (discovered by Andrew Common in 1880). A star is 3 sec of RA west, so the identification NGC 3858 = NGC 3865 is nearly certain. Because of the poor position NGC 3865 was not found by Bigourdan or on Helwan Observatory plates in 1919-20 and RNGC classifies the number as nonexistent.
******************************
NGC 3859 = UGC 6721 = MCG +03-30-091 = CGCG 097-122 = PGC 36582
11 44 52.3 +19 27 16; Leo
V = 14.1; Size 1.2'x0.3'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 58°
17.5" (3/12/88): faint, small, very elongated WSW-ENE,
weak concentration. Member of AGC
1367 with NGC 3857 4.7' NNW and
13.1" (2/25/84): very faint, very small. Located 3.4' SW of a bright star.
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3859 = St. 13-64 = Sw. 1-14, along with NGC 3857 and 3864, and reduced the position on 23 Mar 1884. Lewis Swift rediscovered this galaxy on 13 Apr 1885 and reported it in his first discovery list. His position was 10 sec of RA too far west and 2' too far south.
******************************
11 44 49.1 +19 47 43; Leo
V = 13.4; Size 1.0'x0.5'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 38°
48" (4/29/22): at 488x; bright, moderately large, oval 3:2 SW-NE, ~60"x40", strong concentration with a bright oval core.
Surrounded by numerous galaxies with
17.5" (3/12/88): fairly faint, fairly small, oval
SW-NE, broad concentration. Member
of galaxy cluster AGC 1367 with NGC 3862 13' SSE, NGC 3842 14' NW,
13.1" (2/25/84): very faint, small, diffuse.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3860 = H. III-386 on 27 Apr 1785 (sweep 403) and recorded "vF, vS, r." His position was 2' too far south. Édouard Stephan made an observation on 27 Mar 1886.
******************************
11 45 03.8 +19 58 25; Leo
V = 12.7; Size 2.3'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.7; PA = 77°
48" (5/15/12): fairly bright, fairly large, elongated
5:3 WSW-ENE, 1.7'x1.0', well concentrated with a large, bright core and very
small brighter nucleus. A very
faint spiral arm emerges on the north or northeast side of the core and winds
counterclockwise, merging with
17.5" (3/12/88): fairly faint, fairly small, slightly
elongated, fairly sharp concentration with a very bright core and stellar
nucleus, faint oval halo. This
member of AGC 1367 is located 6.5' NW of mag 7.4
13.1" (2/25/84): faint, moderately large, small bright core, diffuse.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3861 = h970 on 23 Mar 1827 and noted "F; S; R; bM. Doubtful." His position was just off the northwest side of the galaxy.
******************************
NGC 3862 = UGC 6723 = MCG +03-30-095 = CGCG 097-127 = 3C 264 = PGC 36606
11 45 05.0 +19 36 23; Leo
V = 12.7; Size 1.5'x1.5'; Surf Br = 13.5
17.5" (3/12/88): fairly faint, small, round, bright
core, stellar nucleus. Forms a
close trio with
13.1" (2/25/84): faint, small, round, bright core, IC 2955 0.9' NNW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3862 = H. III-385 on 27 Apr 1785 (sweep 403). He called it "very faint, very small, resolvable" though missed nearby IC 2955.
******************************
11 45 05.6 +08 28 11; Vir
V = 12.9; Size 2.8'x0.6'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 75°
17.5" (1/23/88): fairly faint, thin edge-on WSW-ENE,
moderately large, bright core. This
pretty galaxy is located 15' N of XI Virginis (V = 4.9) within the
Albert Marth discovered NGC 3863 = m 224 on 25 Mar 1865 and
noted "vF, perhaps 2' l, mE, almost ray, pos 70°, gradually little
brighter middle." His
position is less than 1' south of
******************************
11 45 15.6 +19 23 32; Leo
V = 14.1; Size 0.9'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 90°
17.5" (3/12/88): very faint, small, round, even surface brightness. Located 3.3' W of NGC 3867 in AGC 1367.
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3864 = St. 13-65 = Sw. 1-15, along with NGC 3857 and 3859, and reduced the position on 23 Mar 1884. The original discovery date is uncertain, though he discovered NGC 3867 and 3868 on 16 Mar 1882. Lewis Swift rediscovered this galaxy on 13 Apr 1885 and reported it in his first discovery list (#15). His RA was 8 seconds too small and the dec was 1.5' too far south.
******************************
NGC 3865 = NGC 3854 = MCG -01-30-028 = PGC 36581
11 44 52.1 -09 13 58; Crt
V = 12.0; Size 2.0'x1.5'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 49°
17.5" (4/15/93): moderately bright, moderately large,
elongated 3:2 SW-NE, very small brighter core appears offset from the geometric
center. Located 4.5' SE of mag 9
Andrew Ainslie Common discovered NGC 3865 in 1880 with his 36-inch reflector and reported "F, pL, dif, another sf [NGC 3866] not so L". Common's RA (single position) was 20 seconds too large . Leavenworth probably found this galaxy again in 1886 and reported it as new, though his RA for NGC 3854 was 28 seconds too small and 9' too far south. In 1921, it was reported again as a possible new nebula at the Helwan Observatory with an interesting description: "F, pS, double nebula [probably an a bright section of a spiral arm] separation 20" in p.a. 40. ? = NGC 3865" MCG misidentifies this galaxy as NGC 3858. See Corwin's notes for NGC 3854.
******************************
NGC 3866 = NGC 3858 = MCG -01-30-029 = PGC 36621
11 45 11.7 -09 18 51; Crt
V = 13.2; Size 1.7'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 56°
17.5" (4/15/93): fairly faint, small, elongated 3:2 SW-NE, weak concentration. A mag 11.5 star is close off the west edge 0.8' from center. Forms a physical pair with NGC 3865 6' NW.
Andrew Ainslie Common discovered NGC 3866 in 1880 and noted
"another sf [of NGC 3865] not so L". The only logical candidate is
******************************
NGC 3867 = UGC 6731 = MCG +03-30-103 = CGCG 097-134 = PGC 36649
11 45 29.6 +19 24 01; Leo
V = 13.2; Size 1.5'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 173°
17.5" (3/12/88): faint, small, oval ~N-S, bright core. Member of the galaxy cluster AGC 1367 with NGC 3868 2.7' N.
13.1" (2/25/84): faint, small, brighter than NGC 3857 and 3859 to the NW.
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3867 = St. 13-66 = Sw. 1-16, along with NGC 3868, on 16 Mar 1882. His published position in his 13th and last discovery list was reduced on 23 Mar 1884. He made a later observation on 27 Mar 1886, after his 13th list. The 16th entry in Swift's first discovery list may be a reobservation on 13 Apr 1885.
******************************
NGC 3868 = MCG +03-30-104 = CGCG 097-135 = Holm 288a = WBL 353-062 = PGC 36638
11 45 29.9 +19 26 41; Leo
V = 14.3; Size 0.8'x0.3'; Surf Br = 12.5; PA = 85°
17.5" (3/12/88): faint, very small, slightly elongated E-W, weak concentration. Located in a trio within AGC 1367 with NGC 3867 2.7' S and NGC 3864 4.5' SW.
Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3868 = St. 13-67, along with NGC 3867, on 16 Mar 1882. His published position in his 13th and last discovery list was reduced on 23 Mar 1884. This was the 29th (and last) galaxy recorded that night with detailed notes.
******************************
11 45 45.6 +10 49 29; Leo
V = 12.8; Size 1.9'x0.5'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 135°
24" (5/20/20): at 375x; bright, fairly large, very elongated spindle 5:1 NW-SE, ~1.5'x0.3', sharply concentrated with an intense, round core that gradually brightens inward. The disc is relatively thin. IC 727 is 19' WSW.
17.5" (4/25/87): fairly faint, fairly small, very elongated NW-SE, bright core, faint stellar nucleus, pretty galaxy. Member of the NGC 3817-3869 group (USGC U412), which includes HCG 58.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3869 = h971 on 10 Mar 1826 and
noted "F; S; suddenly brighter middle; irreg fig; resolvable." His mean position (2 sweeps) is just
off the west side of
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11 45 56.6 +50 11 59; UMa
V = 13.0; Size 1.0'x0.9'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 25°
18" (5/31/03): fairly faint, fairly small, slightly elongated SSW-NNE, 0.7'x0.5', weak concentration. Situated near the intersection of a string of stars to the SE and a couple of stars nearly collinear to the ENE. Member of the NGC 3992 (M109) group = LGG 258.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3870 = H. III-833 = h972 on 17 Mar 1790 (sweep 946) and noted "vF, vS." John Herschel made three observations and and measured an accurate position.
******************************
11 46 10.2 +33 06 31; UMa
V = 14.3; Size 0.9'x0.2'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 105°
17.5" (2/24/90): very faint, very small, elongated
E-W. First of four and forms the
west vertex of an equilateral triangle with sides 4' length with
John Herschel discovered NGC 3871 = h967 on 3 Apr 1831 and
noted "eF; R; gradually brighter in the middle. The preceding of 3 [with NGC 3880 and 3881] forming an
equilateral triangle. Place very
rough." There is nothing at
his position (given only to the nearest min of RA and min of Dec; both marked
as +/-), but 1 min 15 sec of RA due east is
Stephane Javelle found this galaxy again when he went through the region on 11 Jun 1896 with the 30-inch refractor at the Nice Observatory and because of JH's poor position assumed it was new. So, NGC 3871 = IC 2959.
******************************
11 45 49.1 +13 46 00; Leo
V = 11.7; Size 1.9'x1.2'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 20°
17.5" (1/23/88): fairly bright, fairly small, round, sharply concentrated with a very small bright core. Located 1° SW of Denebola = Beta Leonis (V = 2.1).
William Herschel discovered NGC 3872 = H. II-104 = h973 on 8 Apr 1784 (sweep 187) and recorded "pB, R, vS, cometic (or rather close resolvable). The kind of nucleus visible is pretty large and seems not to consist of a single star or point, but looks as if it were resolvable." John Herschel made three observations, describing it on sweep 242 as "B; R; very suddenly much brighter middle to a * 11m; 40"."
******************************
11 45 46.1 +19 46 26; Leo
V = 12.9; Size 1.5'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 95°
17.5" (3/12/88): fairly faint, small, slightly
elongated NNW-SSE, broad concentration, faint stellar nucleus. Forms a close double with
13.1" (2/25/84): faint, small, round, bright core, close pair with NGC 3875.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3873 = H. III-387 on 27 Apr 1785 (sweep 403) and noted "vF, vS, R." His position matches the double system NGC 3873/3875, so H. III-387 could apply to either component. But it's reasonable to assume he picked up NGC 3873, which is slightly brighter and larger visually.
When Heinrich d'Arrest observed H. III-387 on 8 May 1864. He resolved the pair and measured both components. He applied H. III-387 to the northwest component and wrote "Double Nebula, seen [by WH] as single in 1785. Estimated distance = 52", PA = 119°. The north-preceding [NGC 3873] is a little brighter and the view is the fainter [NGC 3873] is extremely difficult. Both are only 2'." But when Dreyer added d'Arrest's "nova" to the GC Supplement (5582), he mistakenly wrote "III-387 sf", instead of "III-387 np". Assuming III-387 applies to NGC 3873, then d'Arrest should be credited with the discovery of NGC 3875.
******************************
11 45 37.7 +08 34 26; Vir
= **, Reinmuth and Corwin.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3874 = H. III-104 on 15 Apr 1784 (sweep 194) and recorded "I suspect a vF, vS nebula; but there is too much twilight to verify it." There is nothing at his position and Bigourdan was unable to find this nebula on two occasions.
Karl Reinmuth, in his 1926 photographic survey "Die Herschel Nebel", notes "F double star in Dreyer's place." Harold Corwin agrees with this identification. The only galaxy near his position is NGC 3863, but this galaxy is 45 sec of RA west and 5' south of WH's offsets.
******************************
NGC 3875 = UGC 6739 = MCG +03-30-105 = CGCG 097-139 = Holm 289b = WBL 353-067 = PGC 36675
11 45 49.4 +19 46 03; Leo
V = 13.9; Size 1.0'x0.3'; Surf Br = 12.3; PA = 87°
17.5" (3/12/88): faint, very small, very elongated ~E-W, weak concentration. Forms a close double system with brighter NGC 3873 0.9' NW within AGC 1367.
17.5" (2/20/88): faint, small, oval ~E-W, small brighter core.
13.1" (2/25/84): very faint, very small. Forms a pair with NGC 3873.
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3875 on 8 May 1864. He noted a double nebula with H. III-387 = NGC 3873 at 52" separation in PA 119° (east-southeast). d'Arrest noted the north-preceding nebula was slightly brighter and the south-following nebula extremely difficult. He attached the designation H. III-387 to the north-preceding object. Dreyer added d'Arrest's "nova" to the GC Supplement (5582), using d'Arrest's mean position (two observations) but mistakenly noted "III-387 sf", instead of "III-387 np". He repeated this error in the NGC, incorrectly crediting d'Arrest with the discovery of NGC 3873, instead of NGC 3875.
******************************
11 45 26.7 +09 09 39; Vir
V = 12.8; Size 1.1'x0.7'; Surf Br = 12.5; PA = 105°
17.5" (1/23/88): fairly faint, fairly small, slightly
elongated, brighter core. A mag
13.5 star is 1.2' NE. Located 5.7'
E of mag 8.6
William Herschel discovered NGC 3876 = H. III-103 on 15 Apr
1784 (sweep 194) and noted "vF, r." His position is 4' northeast of UGC 6730 and 4.5'
north-northeast of
The major catalogues UGC, CGCG and MCG do not label UGC 6730 as NGC 3876, but it is identified correctly in the RNGC.
******************************
11 46 07.6 +47 29 41; UMa
V = 11.0; Size 5.5'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 35°
24" (5/27/17): at 200x; very bright, very large, excellent edge-on 4:1 SW-NE, ~4.5' length and 1' wide. The central region appears mottled and contains a fairly small brighter core with a sharp, intense stellar nucleus. The ends of the SW and NE extensions are irregular in brightness (brighter streaks) and don't narrow at the ends. At times they seemed warped, perhaps due to the patchy brightness. NGC 3738 is 16' NW. Member of the NGC 3992 (M109) group = LGG 258 and brightest in the NGC 3877 subgroup.
17.5" (4/18/98): Viewed 13.5 magnitude supernova SN 1998S (type IIn) as an easy object on the south side of the core.
17.5" (4/6/91): moderately bright, very elongated 4:1 SW-NE, 4.5'x1.1', bright core, faint stellar nucleus. A mag 10.5 star is 3.8' NNW of center. Located 16' S of Chi Ursa Majoris (V = 3.7).
17.5" (4/7/89): fairly bright, large, very elongated, bright core, faint stellar nucleus.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3877 = H. I-201 on 5 Feb 1788 (sweep 808) and recorded "pB, mE nearly in the meridian, 4 or 5' long, 1' broad." His RA (Caroline's reduction) is 10 sec too large.
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11 46 17.8 +33 12 16; UMa
V = 14.4; Size 0.7'x0.6'
17.5" (2/24/90): extremely faint and small, round, very low surface brightness. Faintest and smallest of four with NGC 3880 2.5' SE and part of a larger group (USGC U418) with NGC 3855 25' NW.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3878 = h974 on 29 Apr 1827 and
logged "vF; R; the first in an unequally divided line of 3 [with NGC 3880
and 3881]. His position matches
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11 46 49.8 +69 22 59; Dra
V = 13.1; Size 2.6'x0.5'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 130°
18" (5/31/03): faint, moderately large, very elongated 3:1 NW-SE, 1.0'x0.3'. This galaxy appeared as a low surface brightness phantom streak with no concentration. The galaxy is close following a group of five stars including two to the south and three to the west with a mag 10.5 star 2.5' NW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3879 = H. II-881 on 7 Apr 1793 (sweep 1037). He logged "faint, much extended, about 1 1/2' long, from np to sf, but near the parallel." His position is accurate. In "Scientific Papers of William Herschel", Dreyer notes this galaxy was not found by d'Arrest or Bigourdan.
******************************
NGC 3880 = MCG +06-26-033 = CGCG 186-043 = PGC 36712
11 46 22.3 +33 09 42; UMa
V = 13.8; Size 0.7'x0.7'; Surf Br = 12.7
17.5" (2/24/90): very faint, small, round, very diffuse, very low surface brightness. A mag 14.5 star is off the north end 0.8' from center. Third of four with NGC 3878 2.5' NW and NGC 3881 4' SE. Part of a larger group (USGC U418) with NGC 3855 27' NW.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3880 = h968 = h975 on 29 Apr 1827 and noted (sweep 74) "vF; R; bM; the second of an unequally divided line of 3 [with NGC 3881 and NGC 3878]." On sweep 337 he only has a rough position for h968 which he assumed was different and logged "eF; R; gradually brighter in the middle. The second of 3 [with NGC 3871 and NGC 3881]." So, on both sweeps he missed one of the 4 brighter galaxies here.
******************************
NGC 3881 = MCG +06-26-034 = CGCG 186-046 = PGC 36722
11 46 34.4 +33 06 23; UMa
V = 13.8; Size 0.9'x0.75'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 15°
17.5" (2/24/90): very faint, very small, round, low even surface brightness. A mag 13 star is 4' SW. Last of four in a faint quartet with NGC 3880 4.2' NW and part of a larger group (USGC U418) with NGC 3855 30' NW.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3881 = h969 = h976 on 29 Apr 1827 and recorded h976 as "vF; R; the third of an unequally divided line of 3 [with NGC 3878 and 3880]. His position is accurate. He found the galaxy again on 3 Apr 1831 and logged "eF; R; gradually brighter in the middle. The last of 3 [forming an equilateral triangle with NGC 3871 and 3880]." His positions for these three galaxies were very poorly determined but the identifications are obvious from the description. In the first sweep he missed NGC 3871 and in the later sweep he missed NGC 3878. Rudolph Spitaler measured a position in 1891 at the Vienna Observatory, though his position is 2' too far south (same error with NGC 3871).
******************************
11 46 06.6 -56 23 17; Cen
V = 12.5; Size 2.3'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 126°
24" (4/10/08 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): NGC
3882 is buried in a rich Centaurus Milky Way star field only 5.3° from the Galactic
planevery, a very unusual setting for a galaxy. At 200x, it appeared fairly bright, fairly large, elongated
2:1 NW-SE, 2'x1', weak concentration.
A mag 12 star sits at the SSE edge and a mag 13.5 star is close off the
SE end. A faint star barely off
the NW end appears to be a very close double. In addition, 4 or 5 fainter stars are superimposed on the
unconcentrated glow! Located 2.4'
WSW of mag 8.8
This galaxy was misclassified as a diffuse nebula in the RNGC and as a reflection nebula in the Sky Atlas 2000.0, probably because it is embedded in the Milky Way.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3882 = h3358 on 3 Apr 1834 and
recorded "vF; lE; has two stars in it." His position is just off the north side of
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11 46 47.1 +20 40 31; Leo
V = 12.6; Size 3.0'x2.4'; Surf Br = 14.6
17.5" (2/20/88): faint, fairly small, very slightly
elongated, weak concentration.
Located 17' N of
17.5" (2/13/88): faint, small, round, broad concentration.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3883 = H. III-372 on 13 Apr
1785 (sweep 398) and recorded "vF, cL, but (moon) light is too strong to
see it well." His position
was offset 13 seconds of RA to the west and 3' to the south of
******************************
NGC 3884 = UGC 6746 = MCG +04-28-051 = CGCG 127-052 = PGC 36706
11 46 12.1 +20 23 30; Leo
V = 12.6; Size 2.1'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.6; PA = 10°
17.5" (2/20/88): fairly faint, fairly small, slightly
elongated ~N-S, broad concentration, small faint core. Located 4.5' NNE of mag 7.7
NGC 3884 forms a pair with
17.5" (2/13/88): moderately bright, fairly small, slightly elongated, brighter middle increases to a small brighter core, very faint halo extended ~N-S.
13.1" (2/25/84): fairly faint, fairly small, irregularly round, broad concentration.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3884 = H. III-388 = h977 on 27 Apr 1785 (sweep 403) and noted "vF, vS, r." His position (1 min 25 sec preceding 93 Leo and 25' north) is within 4' of the galaxy.
On 29 Mar 1832 (sweep 409), John Herschel called it
"pretty faint; north following a * 7m; Delta RA = 4.5 sec, dist 5'. His offset from mag 7
******************************
NGC 3885 = ESO 440-007 = MCG -05-28-006 = AM 1144-273 = LGG 253-002 = PGC 36737
11 46 46.4 -27 55 19; Hya
V = 11.9; Size 2.4'x1.0'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 123°
17.5" (4/6/91): fairly faint, small, elongated 3:2
NW-SE, bright core. A mag 12 star
is 1.4' ESE and a fainter mag 13.5 star is 1.4' SSE of center. Located 6' NE of mag 7.6
William Herschel discovered NGC 3885 = H. III-828 = h3359 on 10 Mar 1790 (sweep 939) and logged "eF, stellar. Just preceding a very small star. With 300x, R, very gradually brighter middle." John Herschel made two observations and measured an accurate position,
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NGC 3886 = UGC 6760 = MCG +03-30-111 = CGCG 097-147 = PGC 36756
11 47 05.6 +19 50 14; Leo
V = 13.1; Size 1.2'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 132°
17.5" (2/20/88): fairly faint, small, slightly elongated NW-SE, broad concentration. Member of AGC 1367.
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3886 on 9 May 1864 with the
11-inch refractor at Copenhagen.
His single position matches
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11 47 04.7 -16 51 16; Crt
V = 10.6; Size 3.3'x2.5'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 20°
17.5" (4/15/93): fairly bright, large, elongated 3:2 ~N-S, 3.0'x2.0', broadly concentrated halo, no well-defined nucleus. A mag 12 star is at the NE edge of the halo 1.2' from the center and a mag 13 star is off the SE edge 2.0' from center.
8" (5/21/82): faint, moderately large, elongated 3:2 SSW-NNE, diffuse. Located 90' NE of mag 5 Zeta Crateris.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3887 = H. I-120 = h979 =
h3360 on 31 Dec 1785 (sweep 503) and recorded "cB, L, bM, irregularly
round, 4 or 5' l and 3 or 4' br."
His position matches
******************************
NGC 3888 = UGC 6765 = VV 455 = MCG +09-19-189 = CGCG 268-085 = Mrk 188 = PGC 36789
11 47 34.5 +55 58 01; UMa
V = 12.1; Size 1.7'x1.3'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 120°
18" (2/14/10): fairly bright, fairly large, oval 3:2
WNW-ESE, 1.5'x1.0'. The galaxy is
extended in the direction of a mag 12.5 star 1.9' WNW of center. Appears brighter along the major axis
and increases mildly to a nucleus that seems offset to the SE side. Located south of a group of 5 mag
9-10.5 stars and 21' NNE of mag 5.3 HD 102328. Several galaxy are in the vicinity including NGC 3898 16'
NE, NGC 3889 3.7' NE and
17.5" (3/19/88): moderately bright, moderately large,
oval WNW-ESE, bright core. A mag
12.5 star is 1' W. There are five
fairly bright mag 9-10 stars to the NE and NW (including mag 8.8
William Herschel discovered NGC 3888 = H. II-785 = h978 on 14 Apr 1789 (sweep 920) and noted "pB, S, lE." His RA is 30 tsec too small. John Herschel made two observations and measured an accurate position (used in the NGC).
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NGC 3889 = MCG +09-19-191 = PGC 36819
11 47 48.2 +56 01 06; UMa
V = 14.8; Size 0.5'x0.3'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 126°
18" (2/14/10): very faint, small, elongated 2:1 NW-SE, 24"x12", low even surface brightness. Located just 3.7' NE of NGC 3888. The redshift (z = .054) implies this is an outlying member of AGC 1377.
17.5" (3/19/88): very faint, very small, elongated WNW-ESE. Located 3.7' NE of NGC 3888.
Bindon Blood Stoney (Lord Rosse's assistant), discovered NGC
3889 on 13 Mar 1852 (Sat. night).
While observing NGC 3888 he noted "another F, S, 5' nf." The faint galaxy
In an attempt to identify NGC 3889, the RNGC assigns it the same coordinates and new description as NGC 3850 which is located 17' WSW of NGC 3888! Listed in my RNGC Corrections #1, WSQJ January 1985. See Harold Corwin's identification notes.
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11 49 19.9 +74 18 08; Dra
V = 13.2; Size 0.9'x0.9'; Surf Br = 12.8
18" (5/31/03): faint, small, round, 0.6' diameter, weak concentration, no noticeable core.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3890 = H. III-940 on 12 Dec 1797 (sweep 1068). He recorded "very faint, small, round, bright middle." Caroline's reduced position (used in the GC) lands 2.8' too far NW. Heinrich d'Arrest measured an accurate position, although the RA in the NGC position is 1.0 minute too small.
Herschel later rediscovered this galaxy on 2 Apr 1801 (sweep
1096), with large systematic errors in position. He catalogued it again as III. 971 = NGC 3939. The corrected position for
******************************
11 48 03.3 +30 21 34; UMa
V = 12.4; Size 2.0'x1.7'; Surf Br = 13.6; PA = 70°
18" (4/5/03): fairly faint, moderately large, oval 3:2 WSW-ENE, 1.0'x0.7'. Contains a very small, brighter core.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3891 = H. II-723 = h980 on 3 Feb 1788 (sweep 805) and noted "pB, S, lE." John Herschel observed it on 30 Mar 1827 (sweep 65) with description,"B; R; suddenly brighter middle; 20-30"."
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NGC 3892 = MCG -02-30-030 = LGG 248-004 = PGC 36827
11 48 00.9 -10 57 43; Crt
V = 11.5; Size 3.0'x2.2'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 95°
17.5" (4/15/93): fairly bright, fairly large, elongated 4:3 E-W, 2.0'x1.5', prominent core, very small brighter nucleus, large faint halo. A mag 13.2 star is 2' NW and a mag 13.7 star is off the SW edge of the halo [1.1' from center]. Located 5' WSW of a mag 10.5 star. Brightest in a small, but spread out group (LGG 248 at z = .006) including NGC 3732 and 3779.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3892 = H. II-553 = h981 = h3361 on 4 Mar 1786 (sweep 597). His description reads, "pB, pL, bM, irregular figure. To the south and a little preceding is a vS star inclosed in the nebulosity, which at first had the appearance of a small, stellar nebula." His position is accurate. John Herschel logged this galaxy from Slough, England as "L; R; gradually brighter in the middle; 60"; r" and from the Cape of Good Hope as "pB; R; pL; 45"; first gradually the pretty suddenly brighter in the middle." Joseph Turner, observing on 5 Apr 1878 with the 48" Melbourne Telescope, noted it this object was suddenly brighter to a nucleus.
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11 48 38.2 +48 42 39; UMa
V = 10.5; Size 4.5'x2.8'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 165°
48" (5/9/18): I was quite impressed with this gorgeous
asymmetric spiral. At 488x and
610x it appeared very bright, very large, oval 3:2 NNW-SSE, slightly over
3'x2'. The slightly elongated core
contains a bright, circular nucleus that rises to a very bright non-stellar
peak. A prominent spiral arm is
rooted at the SW side of the core.
It emerges to the south with a 15th mag star superimposed, and unfurls
fairly sharply clockwise to the SE as it separates from the core. The arm
shoots nearly straight N on the E end of the halo, ending nearly 1.5' NNE of
center. The arm is relatively thin
and has a high contrast with the much darker interarm gap to the W. An easy HII knot is within the arm,
50" ESE of center, and a second bright knot with a stellar center is just
15" S. The northern section
of the arm is mottled but I didn't notice any specific knots. A second thin arm is attached on the E
or NE side of the core. It curls
around the N side of the core to the W and ends at a mag 13.4 star [0.9' NW of
center]. This arm has a sharply
defined, hard outer edge at 610x.
Forms a pair (similar redshift) with
17.5" (4/7/89): fairly bright, moderately large, oval 3:2 NNW-SSE, 2.4'x1.6', broad moderate concentration, small bright core. There esd a hint of spiral structure with an impression of an arm attached at the SW end trailing to the east. A mag 13.5 star is involved at the NW side 1.0' from the center and a mag 10.5 star is 3.1' SW. Forms a pair with NGC 3896 3.7' SE. NGC 3893 is a member of the NGC 3877 subgroup of the NGC 3992 (M109) group = LGG 258.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3893 = H. II-738 = h982 on 9 Mar 1788 (sweep 816) and recorded "pB, pL, R, mbM." His position is accurate. John Herschel logged "B; pL; R; gb and pretty suddenly much brighter middle; 60"."
Bindon Stoney, observing on 15 Apr 1852 with LdR's 72", logged "Spiral probably, knot in south edge and a * outside preceding edge." The next night he also noted the "spiral branch seems to start from the south edge and go round the following and n sides as far as the preceding star." Further observations of the spiral structure were made in 1857 and 1861.
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11 48 50.3 +59 24 56; UMa
V = 11.6; Size 2.8'x1.7'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 20°
17.5" (4/6/91): bright, fairly small, oval 2:1 WSW-ENE, brighter along the major axis, small bright core.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3894 = H. I-248 = h983 on 18
Mar 1790 (sweep 951), along with
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NGC 3895 = UGC 6785 = MCG +10-17-080 = CGCG 292-035 = Holm 294b = LGG 251-005 = PGC 36907
11 49 04.0 +59 25 57; UMa
V = 13.1; Size 1.3'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 125°
17.5" (4/6/91): fairly faint, small, elongated 3:2 SW-NE, weak concentration. Forms a pair with NGC 3894 2.2' WSW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3895 = H. II-832 = h984 on 18 Mar 1790 (sweep 951), along with NGC 3894, and logged "pB, pL, R." John Herschel made a single observation, "F; pL; E; gradually brighter in the middle. The foll of 2."
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NGC 3896 = UGC 6781 = MCG +08-22-008 = CGCG 243-009 = Holm 293b = LGG 258-017 = PGC 36897
11 48 56.4 +48 40 28; UMa
V = 12.9; Size 1.4'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 125°
48" (5/9/18): at 488x and 610x; bright, moderately large, elongated 3:2 NW-SE, ~0.9'x0.6', sharply concentrated with a very bright core. A mag 13.5 star is at the north edge [25" from center], and a mag 16.8 star is just off the west side [33" from center]. Fainter of pair with showpiece (in this aperture) NGC 3893 3.7' NW.
17.5" (4/7/89): faint, small, oval NW-SE, small bright core. A mag 13.5 star is at the north edge 26" from the center. Forms a pair with NGC 3893 3.7' NW. Member of the NGC 3877 subgroup of the NGC 3992 (M109) group = LGG 258.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3896 = H. II-739, along with NGC 3893, on 9 Mar 1788 (sweep 816) and noted "F, vS." His position is 2' too far north. d'Arrest found it on 4 Dec 1861 and assumed it was new, though he made a transcription error and his position is 36 minutes of time too small.
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11 48 59.5 +35 00 58; UMa
V = 12.9; Size 1.9'x1.9'; Surf Br = 14.2
18" (4/5/03): faint, fairly small, round, 0.7' diameter,
weak concentration to center but no core.
A mag 13.5 star lies 2.5' NW.
Located 10' NW of mag 5.7
William Herschel discovered NGC 3897 = H. II-408 = h986 on
28 Apr 1785 (sweep 404) and noted "vF, vS, R." Caroline's reduction is NGC 3897 is 12
sec of RA west of
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NGC 3898 = UGC 6787 = MCG +09-19-204 = CGCG 268-088 = CGCG 269-002 = LGG 250-005 = PGC 36921
11 49 15.3 +56 05 04; UMa
V = 10.7; Size 4.4'x2.6'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 107°
17.5" (3/19/88): bright, moderately large, elongated 2:1 WNW-ESE, very bright core, stellar nucleus. NGC 3888 lies 15' SW. Brightest in the NGC 3898 Group = LGG 250 (also UMa NED2 Group).
William Herschel discovered NGC 3898 = H. I-228 = h985 on 14 Apr 1789 (sweep 920) and recorded "cB, vB irr Ncl with F branches, 1 1/2' l, 3/4' br." John Herschel made 4 observation calling it (sweep 345) "B; pL; R; pretty suddenly much brighter middle; 60"."
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11 50 04.5 +26 28 47; Leo
See observing notes for
John Herschel discovered NGC 3899 = h987 on 26 Mar 1827 and noted "pB, R, suddenly much brighter middle". There is nothing at his position, but 1 min of RA east and 2' north is NGC 3912 = h992 which was observed on three different sweeps, but not on the sweep in which he found h987. Reinmuth noted the equivalence NGC 3899 = NGC 3912 and Corwin agrees with this equivalence.
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11 49 09.4 +27 01 19; Leo
V = 11.4; Size 3.2'x1.7'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 2°
17.5" (5/2/92): bright, moderately large, elongated 2:1 N-S, 2'x1', brighter core, very small prominent round core, faint stellar nucleus. Surrounded by a mag 11.5 star 3.3' S, a mag 10.5 star 4.6' NNE and a mag 12 star 5.0' ESE.
8" (4/24/82): fairly bright, elongated, bright core, NGC 3912 30' SSE.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3900 = H. I-82 = h988 on 6 Apr 1785 (sweep 393) and noted "pB, pS." John Herschel made 6 observations, recording on 27 Feb 1827 (sweep 57), "B; pL; R; suddenly brighter in the middle to nucleus; 40"."
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11 42 49.7 +77 22 22; Cam
V = 13.7; Size 1.8'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.9; PA = 165°
18" (3/5/05): very faint, moderately large, low surface brightness, very weak concentration, elongated roughly 4:3 though it was difficult to pin down an orientation as the halo increased with averted vision.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3901 = H. III-970 on 2 Apr
1801 (sweep 1096). He logged
""very faint, pretty large, resolvable." This is one of 15 far northern galaxies
with large systematic errors due to a misidentification of the offset star and
the telescope misaligned off the meridian. A corrected position matching
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11 49 18.9 +26 07 18; Leo
V = 12.8; Size 1.6'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 85°
17.5" (5/4/02): fairly faint, moderately large,
elongated 3:2 E-W, 1.2'x0.8', weak concentration. Member of the nearby group LGG 254 and located ~2 degrees NW
of the
William Herschel discovered NGC 3902 = H. III-321 = h989 on 6 Apr 1785 (sweep 393) and noted "vF, pS." Caroline's reduction is 10 sec of time preceding UGC 6790. John Herschel made two observations and measured a more accurate RA.
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11 49 03.9 -37 31 02; Cen
V = 12.8; Size 1.1'x1.0'; Surf Br = 12.7
18" (5/15/10): at 175x and 220x; between faint and fairly faint, slightly elongated ~E-W, ~30"x25", just a broad weak concentration wit no core or zones. Situated in a E-W line of stars with a mag 14 star 50" W and a mag 12 star 2.6' E. A pair of mag 14/15 stars also lies 1.5' E. Member of a loose, poor group (LGG 256).
John Herschel discovered NGC 3903 = h3362 on 21 Apr 1835 and
logged "pF; R or lE; gradually very little brighter middle; among
stars." His position
(measured twice) matches
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11 49 13.2 -29 16 37; Hya
V = 10.9; Size 2.7'x1.9'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 8°
18" (4/29/06): fairly bright, moderately large,
elongated 4:3 SSW-NNE. Sharply
concentrated with a very bright 20" core and a much fainter halo of
uniform surface brightness. NGC
3923 lies 40' NE. Member of a
group with
8" (5/21/82): fairly faint, small, slightly elongated, bright core. Located 40' SW of NGC 3923.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3904 = H. II-864 = h3363 on 7 Mar 1791 (sweep 998). He logged "pB, S, R, very gradually much brighter middle, almost resembling a nucleus." Caroline's reduction is 2' southwest the center of this galaxy. John Herschel made a single observation, noting "pB, R, pretty suddenly much brighter middle, 15 arcseconds."
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11 49 04.9 -09 43 48; Crt
V = 12.8; Size 1.9'x1.4'; Surf Br = 13.7; PA = 40°
17.5" (5/2/92): very faint, fairly small, slightly elongated, low even surface brightness. Forms the vertex of a right triangle with a mag 12 star 3' N and a mag 13 star 2' E. The halo fades into the background so it is difficult to determine the elongation.
Andrew Ainslie Common discovered NGC 3905 in 1880 with his
36" reflector. He recorded
#24 in his Copenicus discovery list as "F, L, diffused". His (rough) position is 0.3 min of RA
east and 2' south of
Ormond Stone found this galaxy again in 1886 at the Leander-McCormick and reported I-192 as "mag 15.5, 1.8' dia, irregularly round, gradually brighter in the middle." His rough position (nearest min of RA) was essentially correct (30 sec of RA east). Dreyer credited both Common and Stone in the NGC.
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11 49 40.4 +48 25 33; UMa
V = 12.9; Size 1.9'x1.7'; Surf Br = 14.0
17.5" (4/7/89): faint, fairly large, round, low surface brightness, broad mild concentration. Bracketed by a mag 12.5 star 2.0' S and a mag 13.5 star 2.6' NNE of center. Member of the NGC 3877 subgroup of the M109 group.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3906 = H. III-715 on 9 Mar
1788 (sweep 816) and noted "eF, pS." Caroline's reduction is at the west edge of
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11 49 30.1 -01 05 12; Vir
V = 13.1; Size 1.2'x0.7'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 40°
18" (4/9/05): This is a close pair of galaxies (NGC
3907A/B) although John Herschel only recorded a single object. The eastern component has a fairly high
surface brightness and appears fairly faint, very small, slightly elongated
SW-NE, 0.4'x0.3' (viewed core only and missed the much fainter extensions). Forms a close 1.7' pair with
John Herschel discovered NGC 3907 = h990 on 15 Apr 1828 and
noted "eF; S; pretty suddenly brighter in the middle." His position is just off the south side
of
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11 49 52.7 +12 11 09; Leo
V = 15.0; Size 0.6'x0.5'; Surf Br = 12.9
24" (3/9/13): very faint to faint, small, round, 18" diameter, low even surface brightness. Located 3.3' SE of a mag 10.6 star and 12' E of mag 8.6 HD 102633.
Lewis Swift discovered NGC 3908 = Sw. 1-17 on 10 Apr 1885 and noted "F; vS; R; mbM." There is nothing at his position, but 7' north is PGC 36967. This galaxy is not catalogued in the MCG or CGCG and may be too faint for Swift to have noticed visually. He called the galaxy "F[aint]", although he described difficult galaxies as "eF" or "eeF". Even though there are no other nearby candidates, this identification is very uncertain.
The light-travel time for PGC 36967 is 1.1 billion years, and if seen by Swift is the second most distant galaxy in the NGC (after NGC 5609).
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11 50 07 -48 14 42; Cen
Size 18'
14" (4/5/16 - Coonabarabran, 73x and 145x): at 73x, this very large, scattered cluster contained ~75 stars mag 10-14 in a 20'x14' field, elongated E-W. Many of the stars are arranged in a roughly circular (somewhat boxy) annulus, with relatively few stars in the interior. Stands out reasonable well at low power, but unimpressive at 145x. On the west side is HJ 4476, a 10.1/11.0 pair at 20". A couple of doubles are on the east side, including a 13th mag pair at 14", and near the center is a mag 10.2/11.8 pair at 25".
John Herschel discovered NGC 3909 = h3364 on 1 Mar 1835 and logged "a fine, large, but coarse cl class VII; stars 9, 10, 11m; two double stars are in it." On a later sweep he recorded "Place of a double star in a vL, no v comp cl, class VII, well defined and insulated, has about 50 or 60 st 9...12 m". His position corresponds with a pair of mag 10-11 stars at 18" separation in a scattered group. RNGC classifies this number as nonexistent (Type 7).
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11 49 59.3 +21 20 01; Leo
V = 12.9; Size 1.6'x1.2'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 150°
17.5" (4/7/89): fairly faint, small, oval ~NW-SE, small bright core, stellar nucleus. A mag 12.5 star is 30" off the NW edge and 1.0' NNW of center.
Otto Struve discovered NGC 3910 on 3 Mar 1869 with the 15-inch Merz refractor at Pulkovo Observatory in St. Petersburg. He recorded "a round nebula, 20" diameter, strong concentratin to center. A star 10-11 is 48" north." This object was found (along with 7 others) while searching for Comet Winnecke (7P/Pons-Winnecke) in Mar-Apr 1869. Struve was credited with the discovery in the GC Supplement and the NGC.
William Herschel made the first observation on 27 Dec 1786 (sweep 671), but he wasn't confident it was a real nebula: He recorded "extremely faint, extremely small. Suspected, but may be a deception." His reduced position lands less than 3' SW of NGC 3910, within his standard errors. He never went back in a later sweep to confirm this object and the discovery wasn't assigned a general (internal) number or published in his catalogues.
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11 50 06.0 +24 55 13; Leo
V = 13.4; Size 1.0'x1.0'; Surf Br = 12.9
17.5" (4/15/93): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 4:3 NW-SE, brighter core, faint stellar nucleus. NGC 3920 lies 10' W. The identifications of NGC 3911 and NGC 3920 are reversed in all modern catalogues.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3911 = H. III-341 = h991 on
10 Apr 1785 (sweep 394) and recorded "vF, vS, but little exceeding the
stellar. 240 showed it very
plainly." His position is 3'
southwest of
But when John Herschel reobserved this field, he assumed UGC
6803 was new and took
The identifications given by Malcolm Thomson and Harold Corwin place the NGC labels on the historically correct galaxies, but this leaves the numbering out of order in RA (NGC 3920 precedes NGC 3911). Instead, Courtney Seligman favors the NGC numbers in RA order with NGC 3911 on the western galaxy and NGC 3920 on the eastern. He also assigns "H. III-314" on NGC 3920, the brighter galaxy. This is consistent with modern catalogues.
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NGC 3912 = NGC 3899 = UGC 6801 = MCG +05-28-037 = CGCG 157-041 = PGC 36979
11 50 04.5 +26 28 47; Leo
V = 12.4; Size 1.5'x0.9'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 5°
17.5" (4/25/98): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1 N-S, 1.2'x0.6'. Broad concentration with a brighter core but no well-defined nucleus. The surface brightness is irregular at 280x. Sky transparency and seeing conditions poor.
8" (4/24/82): faint, small, elongated N-S. NGC 3902 lies 23' SSW and NGC 3900 30' NNW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3912 = H. II-342 = h992 on 6 Apr 1785 (sweep 393) and noted "F, pL." John Herschel made three observations, describing it on 13 APr 1831 (sweep 343) as "pB; pL; R; gradually brighter in the middle; 60"." h987 = NGC 3899 is a fourth observation on 26 Mar 1827 with a similar description, but his position was 1 minute of RA too small. So, NGC 3912 = NGC 3899, with NGC 3912 the principal designation.
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11 50 38.9 +55 21 13; UMa
V = 12.6; Size 2.6'x2.6'; Surf Br = 14.5
18" (4/30/11): fairly faint, fairly large, 2'
diameter. The halo has a very low
surface brightness with a weak, broad concentration to a small brighter
core.
17.5" (3/19/88): fairly faint, fairly small, round,
broad concentration. NGC 3916 and
William Herschel discovered NGC 3913 = H. II-786 on 14 Apr
1789 (sweep 920), along with nearby NGC 3916 and 3921, and noted "F,
E." His position (Caroline's
reduction) is 2' southwest of
Lewis Swift "rediscovered" this galaxy on 8 May
1890 and described "eeF; pL; iR; 3916-3921 in field." Dreyer recatalogued it
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11 50 32.7 +06 34 05; Vir
V = 13.2; Size 1.1'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 40°
17.5" (1/23/88): fairly faint, small, slightly elongated, bright core. Either a knot or more likely a faint star is superimposed.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3914 = H. III-90 = h995 on 13 Apr 1784 (sweep 191)and noted "vF, vS, not mbM. Near some bright stars and very near a faint star." John Herschel logged (sweep 253) "F; R: 15"; has a * 13m, 70" dist np."
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11 50 30 -05 09; Vir
= Not found, RNGC.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3915 = H. III-113 on 24 Apr
1784 (sweep 205) and recorded "eF, eS. 240x showed 2 vS close stars with nebulosity between them;
but probably a more favorable evening will prove it a deception." There is nothing at his position (nor
for NGC 3679 = H. III-112, the previous object in the sweep), though 1.0 min of
RA preceding is
Harold Corwin notes that the NGC position is from Christian
Peters (in his Copernicus lists).
There is nothing near Peters' position (a bit further east than WH's),
but perhaps he measured a poor position for IC 2963, which is 1.1 minutes of RA
west of his position, or refers to
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NGC 3916 = UGC 6819 = MCG +09-20-005 = CGCG 269-005 = CGCG 268-093 = PGC 37047
11 50 51.0 +55 08 36; UMa
V = 13.8; Size 1.6'x0.4'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 45°
48" (5/12/12): at 488x appeared bright, fairly large,
elongated nearly 4:1 SW-NE, ~1.2'x0.3'.
18" (4/30/11): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 3:1 SW-NE, 0.7'x0.2'. NGC 3921 lies 4.5' SE.
17.5" (3/19/88): faint, fairly small, thin edge-on SW-NE, weak concentration. Forms a pair with NGC 3921 4.5' SSE.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3916 = H. II-787 = h993 on
14 Apr 1789 (sweep 920) and recorded "Two, the south-following [NGC 3921],
which is that of which the place is taken, is pB, S [with another [NGC 3916]
north-preceding about 5', it precedes the other about 5 sec in
time.)" John Herschel logged
"eF; R; gradually brighter in the middle" and his position is within
1' of
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11 50 45.4 +51 49 28; UMa
V = 11.8; Size 5.1'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.7; PA = 77°
17.5" (3/19/88): moderately bright, large, very
elongated 4:1 WSW-ENE, broad concentration without a distinct nucleus. Two stars are off the south edge; a mag
13.5 star 1.3' S and a mag 14 star 1.3' SE of center. I missed the 16th magnitude flat galaxy
William Herschel discovered NGC 3917 = H. II-824 = h994 on
17 Mar 1790 (sweep 946) and recorded "'B, mE, about 6' l and 2'
br." Caroline's reduced
position is 5' north of
The RA in the RNGC is 0.7 min of RA too far east. There is a similar offset for NGC 3921 located 3° north. Listed in my RNGC Corrections #3.
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NGC 3918 = PK 294+4.1 = ESO 170-13 = PN G294.6+04.7 = Blue Planetary
11 50 17.8 -57 10 56; Cen
V = 8.2; Size 19"
24" (4/11/08 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): at 200x the "Blue Planetary" has an even, extremely high surface brightness disc of 15" and a saturated, vivid blue color. The edge is crisply defined and the disc has a uniform surface brightness. At 350x, the planetary is oval or irregular, perhaps 18"x15". There was no sign of the central star, though I didn't try high powers.
18" (7/10/05 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): at 76x appears as a bright, beautiful blue cosmic egg floating in a rich star field, ~15" diameter. The surface brightness is extremely high and uniformly lit, with a sharply defined edge to the disc. At 228x, the planetary appears to be set in the middle of an absorption hole in the Milky Way as there are very few faint stars in a 4' to 5' circular region surrounding the planetary. Outside this hole, the Milky Way background is very evident and fairly bright.
13.1" (2/20/04 - Costa Rica): at 195x, this 8th
magnitude planetary appears as a beautiful 10"-12" blue disc with a
very crisp edge. No central star
was glimpsed or other structural details at this magnification though the
surface brightness is unusually high.
Situated in a rich star field but set near the middle of a oval 12'-13'
ring of mag 11 and 12 stars which are near the periphery of the 17' field at
195x! Located 8.4' SSW of mag 8.1
18" (7/8/02 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): at 171x, the "Blue Planetary" appears as a bright, round disc, ~15" diameter with a vivid blue color (V = 8.2). The surface brightness is very high and the edge of the halo is crisply defined, but no structural details or central star were noted. Good response to UHC filter, although it was unnecessary for a good view. The Milky Way is quite rich here in faint stars but the planetary seems to be set a darker, circular hole without the faint background glow - a contrast affect with the PN?
John Herschel discovered NGC 3918 = h3365 on 3 Apr 1834 and described this planetary as "perfectly round; very planetary; color fine blue;...very like Uranus, only about half as large again and blue." In a letter to Francis Baily from the Cape of Good Hope dated 22 Oct 1834, he added "On the 3d of April I discovered another fine planetary nebula, having a perfectly sharp disc, without the least haziness, of about 6" diameter. The most remarkable feature about this is its evident blue colour, which needs not the presence of lamp light, or that of any red star, to be very conspicuous, as it appears when the nebula stands alone in a dark field." On 5 Feb 1835 (sweep 543, the night described in his diary as "most superb" and "having attained the sublime of Astronomy - a sort of ne plus ultra") he noted the color as "a beautiful rich blue, between prussian blue and verditter green...its outline is sharp and clean, and perhaps a very little elliptic. A feeble lamp light gives a deep indigo contrasted color."
James Dunlop first recorded this planetary in the Brisbane Star Catalogue of 1826 as a "fine blue star” (#3807) but apparently didn't notice its non-stellar appearance.
In 1868, Lieutenant John Herschel, John Herschel's son, reported NGC 3918 displayed an emission line in an early spectroscopic investigation of southern nebulae while he was stationed in Bangalore, India. In 1890, Williamina Fleming reported the spectrum showed bright lines in the ultra-violet, which was not seen in other planetary nebulae.
Joseph Turner and Pietro Baracchi (1885) sketched the planetary with the Great Melbourne Telescope (unpublished plate V, figure 57).
The term "planetary", of course, had been used by
William Herschel but he never made an analogy to Uranus. John Herschel
wrote in his "A Treatise on Astronomy”, "They [planetary nebulae]
have, as their name, exactly the appearance of planets." He also
reported the colors of several as shades of blue (
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11 50 41.5 +20 00 54; Leo
V = 13.3; Size 0.9'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.1
17.5" (5/4/02): faint, very small, round, 0.4' diameter. A mag 13 star is 1.0' ENE of center. A mag 15.7z galaxy 3' NE was not noticed. Located 80' E of the core of AGC 1367. With a similar redshift, this galaxy seems likely to be an outlying member.
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3919 on 6 Apr 1864 with the
11-inch refractor at Copenhagen.
His position matches
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NGC 3920 = (R)NGC 3911 = UGC 6795 = VV 367 = MCG +04-28-056 = CGCG 127-061 = LGG 254-005 = PGC 36926
11 49 22.2 +24 56 19; Leo
V = 14.2; Size 1.1'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.6; PA = 110°
17.5" (4/15/93): very faint, small, round, ~30" diameter. A mag 10.5 star is just off the west edge (40" W of center) which hinders observation. NGC 3911 lies 10.5' E. The identifications of NGC 3911 and NGC 3920 are reversed in all catalogues.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3920 = h996 on 28 Mar 1832. Although he gives no visual description, he mentioned "Follows III 341 [NGC 3911] on same parallel." He was confused on the identification of H. III 341 and assigned the nova to the wrong object. Because of this confusion, the identifications of NGC 3911 and NGC 3920 are reversed in all modern catalogues. This error is discussed in Malcolm Thomson's Catalogue Corrections, WSQJ April 1989 and CGCG Corrections. See Harold Corwin's identification notes.
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NGC 3921 = Arp 224 = VV 31 = UGC 6823 = MCG +09-20-009 =
11 51 06.8 +55 04 43; UMa
V = 12.4; Size 2.1'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 20°
48" (5/12/12): at 488x; the "core" of this disrupted galaxy is very bright, oval 4:3 N-3, ~25"x20", fairly sharply concentrated with a small intense nucleus that brightens to a blazing stellar center. A large, faint tear-drop shaped plume extends from the core 1' due south. The plume forms an elongated loop or ring with a brighter rim. The offset, brilliant core sits at the north edge of the loop.
18" (4/30/11): moderately bright, fairly small, elongated 4:3 ~N-S, ~1.0'x0.7'. Sharply concentrated with a very bright core that increases to the center and a much fainter outer halo. NGC 3916 lies 4.4' WNW. This is a disrupted galaxy with an off-set nucleus and long filamentary arms.
17.5" (3/19/88): fairly faint, small, round, small very bright core. Brightest of three with NGC 3916 4.5' NNW and MCG +09-19-213 5' W.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3921 = H. II-788 = h997 on 14 Apr 1789 (sweep 920) and recorded "Two, the south-following [NGC 3921], which is that of which the place is taken, is pB, S [with another [NGC 3916] north-preceding about 5', it precedes the other about 5 sec in time.)" John Herschel logged "pB; R; pretty suddenly brighter in the middle" and measured an accurate position. The RA in the RNGC is 0.5 min too large.
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11 51 13.4 +50 09 25; UMa
V = 12.8; Size 1.7'x0.8'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 38°
18" (5/31/03): faint, fairly small, elongated 5:2 SW-NE, 1.0'x0.4', fairly low surface brightness, slightly brighter middle. A 20" pair of mag 12/13 stars lies 4' SE. NGC 3922 is a member of the NGC 3992 (M109) group = LGG 258.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3922 = H. III-716 on 9 Mar
1788 (sweep 816) and noted "vF, vS." His position is 3' north of
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NGC 3923 = ESO 440-017 = MCG -05-28-012 = AM 1148-283 = LGG 255-003 = PGC 37061
11 51 01.8 -28 48 22; Hya
V = 9.8; Size 5.9'x3.9'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 50°
24" (4/13/18): at 200x; very bright, large, oval ~2:1 SW-NE. Sharply concentrated with a very bright and very small core that seems mottled, highlighted by a stellar nucleus. A very faint star is situated at the southwest edge of the core. The core is surrounded by a large, much fainter oval halo that increases in size with averted vision and extends at least 4'x2'. Brightest member of the LGG 255 group, which includes NGC 3904 and UGCA 250.
Supernova 2018aoz, discovered on April 2 (11 days ago) was surprisingly bright at mag ~13.0 and very easy to identify 3.7' N of center. It was clearly brighter than a mag 13.5 star superimposed at the southwest edge of the halo.
18" (4/29/06): very bright, fairly large, elongated 3:2 SW-NE, ~2.5'x1.5'. Well-concentrated with a very bright elongated core that increases to a stellar nucleus. The relatively fainter halo increases in size with averted vision. This well-studied galaxy is surrounded by concentric gaseous shells of material.
8" (5/21/82): bright, moderately large, elongated SW-NE, small bright nucleus. NGC 3904 lies 40' SW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3923 = H. I-259 = h3366 on 7 Mar 1791 (sweep 998) and logged "cB, pL, gradually brighter in the middle, lE, the brightness takes up a large space of it." His position is at the southwest edge of the galaxy. John Herschel made two observations, first logging "B, pL, lE, gradually little brighter middle, 80" long, 50" broad, resolvable."
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NGC 3924 = NGC 3922 = UGC 6824 = MCG +08-22-017 = CGCG 269-008 = CGCG 243-017 = PGC 37072
11 51 13.4 +50 09 26; UMa
See observing notes for NGC 3922. This number is incorrectly applied to
William Herschel discovered NGC 3924 = H. II-825 on 17 Mar 1790 (sweep 946) and recorded "pB, L, bM, iF." His position is just far enough off (3' north-northeast of UGC 6824) that WH didn't equate it with III-716 = NGC 3922, which he previously discovered on 9 Mar 1788. Dreyer later realized the equivalence and noted in his 1912 Monthly Notices paper on NGC corrections "to be struck out (= 3922)". CGCG, UGC, RNGC and RC3 misidentify UGC 6849 as NGC 3924. See Harold Corwin's identification notes.
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11 51 21.0 +21 53 20; Leo
V = 14.0; Size 1.0'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 10°
17.5" (5/4/02): faint, small, elongated 5:3 SSW-NNE,
0.7'x0.4'. Located 4.5' NE of a
mag 10.5 star. A mag 11.5 star
lies 4' ESE and a nice equal mag 13 pair [12" separation] is 4' ENE. The double system
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3925 on 19 Feb 1863 with
the 11-inch refractor at Copenhagen.
His position, measured twice, matches
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NGC 3926 = VV 218a/b = UGC 6829 = MCG +04-28-074 = CGCG 127-076 = PGC 37079 = PGC 37080
11 51 28.2 +22 01 33; Leo
V = 13.7; Size 1.0'x0.8'
24" (5/20/20): NGC 3926 is an overlapping pair with the nuclei separated by 24" and the halos overlapping. The eastern component is the larger and brighter and appeared fairly faint, fairly small, round, ~30" diameter, sharply concentrated with a quasi-stellar nucleus at most 10" diameter. The nucleus of the western galaxy was also easily visible at 225x and 375x and similar in brightness. But only a 10" core could be distinguished as the halos are merged. Overall, the dimensions were ~40"x20" in an E-W orientation.
17.5" (5/4/02): this is a double system in a common
envelope. The combined glow was
elongated ~5:2 WNW-ESE, 0.8'x0.3'.
In moments of better seeing, the system resolved into a contact pair
with the brighter component (
William Herschel discovered NGC 3926 = H. III-379 = h998 on 26 Apr 1785 (sweep 402). He noted "extremely faint, little elongated, easily resolvable, may be a patch of stars, the night not being dark enough." Interestingly, he swept it again on 27 Dec 1786 (sweep 671) and wrote "two extremely faint stars, with seeming nebulosity; but the nebulosity is probsably a deception." Despite the uncertainty in both observations, the positons are good. John Herschel made a single observation, logging "eF; R; S; near a star." Perhaps his comment about near a star refers to the western component!
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11 31 42.0 +28 09 13; Leo
See observing notes for NGC 3713. = Not found, Carlson.
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3927 on 27 Apr 1864 with the 11-inch refractor at Copenhagen. There are no stellar or nonstellar objects near his single position. He mentioned the observation was beyond doubt, but the sky conditions were poor. No one has suggested or found a plausible candidate. Harold Corwin concludes "NGC 3927 is probably lost for good."
But in April 2015, after checking possible digit errors in d'Arrest's postion I found that if he made a 20 minute error in time (too large) then his position is a very close match with NGC 3713. After notifying Harold Corwin, he concurs this is the only reasonable identification though still leaves a bit of uncertainty as d'Arrest failed to mention any nearby stars.
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11 51 47.6 +48 40 59; UMa
V = 12.6; Size 1.5'x1.5'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 0°
17.5" (4/7/89): fairly faint, small, slightly elongated SSW-NNE, small bright core, stellar nucleus. Bracketed between a mag 13.5 star 1.3' SE and a mag 14 star 1.9' NNW of center. Member of the NGC 3877 subgroup of the M109 (NGC 3992) group = LGG 258.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3928 = H. II-740 = h999 on 9
Mar 1788 (sweep 816) and noted "pF, pS, stellar." Caroline Herschel's reduction is 1.7'
northeast of
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11 51 42.5 +21 00 09; Leo
V = 14.1; Size 0.5'x0.4'; Surf Br = 12.2; PA = 80°
17.5" (4/7/89): fairly faint, very small, elongated
WNW-ESE, bright core. A mag 14.5
star is at the SE end 0.5' from center.
Located at the center of triangle formed by a mag 11 star 1.7' SE and
two mag 13.5 stars 1.8' N and 2.0' W.
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3929 on 4 Dec 1861 with the
11-inch refractor at Copenhagen.
His position, measured on 2 nights, matches
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11 51 45.8 +38 00 54; UMa
V = 12.4; Size 3.2'x2.4'; Surf Br = 14.4; PA = 30°
18" (4/5/03): very faint, moderately large, round. Appears as a very diffuse ill-defined glow with just a weak concentration. It was not initially noticed initially in the field. Located 2.5' E of a mag 13 star, the southernmost of three collinear mag 13/13.5 stars. John Herschel mentioned a 7th magnitude star which followed due east by 3'. This is Groombridge 1830, which has the third fastest known proper motion (7.04"/yr) and this star is now roughly 23' SE!
William Herschel discovered NGC 3930 = H. III-616 = h1000 on 17 Mar 1787 (sweep 714). He recorded "very faint, considerably small, just south of a star 6th mag. I suspected at first that my glass had been affect with damp." He reobserved the galaxy on 23 Mar 1789 (sweep 915) and logged "extremely faint, irregular figure, 3 or 4' dia, resolvable. About 5' south of a star 6th mag." In his 1814 PT paper, Herschel mentioned that on one observation he logged "A star of the 6th magnitude, about 5' north of a very faint nebula, or an irregular figure." But on a observation two years before, the two objects were then so near each other, as, at first sight, it caused a suspicion that some damp had settled upon the eye-glass and affected the star. He commented this might suggest that the nebula had a considerable proper motion, though differences in observing conditions might account for the difference. It turns out that Herschel's first explanatin was correct -- the star is Groombridge 1830, which has the third highest known proper motion of 7.04"/yr and the star is now roughly 23' further southeast! But in a two-year period there was not a significant proper motion of the star.
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11 51 13.4 +52 00 02; UMa
V = 13.3; Size 1.1'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 160°
17.5" (3/19/88): fairly faint, small, round, bright
core. Located 4.9' W of mag 8.6
William Herschel discovered NGC 3931 = H. III-769 on 12 Apr
1789 (sweep 919). He noted "considerable faint, small." There is nothing at his position, but 1
min of RA preceding, and 2' north is
In a 1926 photographic survey Karl Reinmuth identified PGC 37168 as NGC 3931. This galaxy is close to WH's position, but UGC 6825 is much brighter and more likely to have been picked up. CGCG and MCG do not label their corresponding catalogue entries as NGC 3931. Both Harold Corwin and Malcolm Thompson discuss this identification.
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11 52 10.8 +48 37 13; UMa
= * 5.5' SE NGC 3928, RC1 and Thomson. Incorrect identification in the
RNGC. See
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3932 on 4 Dec 1861 with the 11-inch refractor at Copenhagen. His single position in AN 1500 corresponds with a mag 13 star 5.5' southeast of NGC 3928. d'Arrest didn't include this object in his compilation of observations "Siderum Nebulosorum" (1867). RNGC, CGCG and MCG misidentify CGCG 243-022 = PGC 37194 as NGC 3932. See Harold Corwin's identification notes.
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11 52 02.0 +16 48 35; Leo
V = 13.6; Size 1.1'x0.6'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 83°
17.5" (3/29/89): faint, fairly small, oval WSW-ENE,
almost even surface brightness.
Forms a pair with
Alphonse Borrelly discovered NGC 3933, along with NGC 3934,
around 1871 with a 7.2-inch comet-seeker at the Marseilles Observatory. His description (5) reads "pF, E,
elliptic, no bright point" and his micrometric position in AN 1885 matches
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NGC 3934 = UGC 6841 = MCG +03-30-123 = CGCG 097-171 = PGC 37170
11 52 12.6 +16 51 06; Leo
V = 13.5; Size 1.1'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.4
17.5" (3/29/89): faint, fairly small, slightly elongated, low surface brightness. A mag 13 star is 2.0' N. Forms a pair with NGC 3933 3.6' SW.
Alphonse Borrelly discovered NGC 3934, along with NGC 3933, around 1871 with a 7.2-inch comet-seeker at the Marseilles Observatory. His description (6) reads "eF, nearly round, almost undiscernable" and his micrometric position in AN 1885 matches UGC 6839. Dreyer included the discovery in the GC Supplement (5589). The pair was independently found by Carl Frederick Pechüle in 1884 in Copenhagen.
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11 52 24.1 +32 24 15; UMa
V = 13.2; Size 1.0'x0.5'; Surf Br = 12.3; PA = 114°
17.5" (2/24/90): faint, small, elongated WNW-ESE, small bright core.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3935 = h1001 on 29 Apr 1827 and
noted "pB; R; pretty suddenly brighter in the middle." His mean position (from 3 sweeps) is an
excellent match with
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11 52 20.5 -26 54 21; Hya
V = 12.0; Size 3.9'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 63°
17.5" (4/6/91): fairly faint, moderately large, edge-on 5:1 SW-NE, 3.0'x0.6', fairly even surface brightness. A mag 10.5 star is 4.8' N.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3936 = h3367 on 24 Mar 1835 and recorded "vF; vmE; 2' l; 15" br; pos of extension = 59.3°." His position and description match ESO 504-020. Based on photos taken at the Helwan Observatory in 1919-20, it was described as "F, 3' x 0.25', E 75°; spiral seen edge-wise; no nucleus."
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NGC 3937 = UGC 6851 = MCG +04-28-081 = CGCG 127-088 = PGC 37219
11 52 42.6 +20 37 52; Leo
V = 12.9; Size 1.8'x1.6'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 15°
17.5" (4/7/89): moderately bright, very small, slightly
elongated, small very bright core.
Brightest in the NGC 3937 group with
William Herschel discovered NGC 3937 = H. III-389 = h1003 on 27 Apr 1785 (sweep 403) and noted "vF, vS." John Herschel made a single observation and measured an accurate position.
The RNGC equates NGC 3937 with IC 2968, but IC 2968 is a separate galaxy located 3' west (see that number).
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11 52 49.4 +44 07 15; UMa
V = 10.4; Size 5.4'x4.9'; Surf Br = 13.8
48" (5/10/18): at 375x; I was very impressed with this gorgeous face-on spiral! Very bright, roundish, over 4' diameter, strongly concentrated with a well defined, very bright round core and bright stellar nucleus. Three principal spiral arms were easily visible. A thin inner arm can be traced 180°; it originates just south of the core and curls counterclockwise towards the west. It dims out as it extends north along the west side [~0.6' from center] but brightens noticeably as it spirals out and detaches from the central region on the northwest side, ending nearly due north [1.3' from center]. A shorter outer arm on the west side was easily visible [at a radius of 1.5'], curving 90° from the southwest to the northwest. These two western arms are separated by a darker interarm gap
The eastern arms have a noticeably lower contrast. The inner eastern arm can be traced with the help of a wide, darker dust lane immediately to its east. The arm disappears into the halo on the south side but just further west two small HII knots, ~6" diameter each, were visible. The knots are separated by 20" E-W, and isolated on the southwest edge of the halo. The 1983 Hodge-Kennicutt "Atlas of HII regions in 125 galaxies" includes multiple designations including #120 [1.4' SSW of center] and #140 [1.5' SW of center]. A 15th magnitude star is ~1' W, just beyond the halo on the SW end.
The outer arm on the eastern edge of the halo could mostly be traced by three HII knots within the arm. The largest is an easily visible 12"-15" patch (#23) on the NE edge of the halo [2.2' from center]. Also 2' ENE of center are a pair of faint knots only ~5" diameter. These are separated by 12" in a N-S orientation, with the northern knot (#3) slightly brighter than the southern (#4).
17.5" (4/6/91): fairly bright, fairly large, large
round halo, 3'x3', fairly weak concentration, core appears elongated E-W, faint
stellar nucleus embedded. This
galaxy, along with
William Herschel discovered NGC 3938 = H. I-203 = h1002 on 6 Feb 1788 (sweep 810) and recorded "cB, cL, R pBNM." John Herschel made two observations, logging on sweep 248 "a superb nebula; B; vL; R; 3' diam; very gradually brighter middle; r; is probably a globular cluster."
On 17 Mar 1849, George Johnstone Stoney, Lord Rosse's assistant, logged "Suspect it to be a spiral. Lord Rosse and I independently thought at moments that were saw a ring around the nucleus. Two years later, Bindon Stoney wrote "Spiral of the faintest class. The middle is pB, but branches vF. Conjectured form as in diagram [which shows a 3-armed spiral]." Listed as "Spiral or curvilinear" in LdR's 1850 PT paper. Two possible spiral shapes (by Stoney in 1851 and by R.J. Mitchell on 17 Apr 1855) were shown in the 1861 and 1880 publications.
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NGC 3939 = NGC 3890 = UGC 6788 = MCG +13-09-003 = CGCG 352-008 = PGC 36925
11 49 19.9 +74 18 08; Dra
V = 13.2; Size 0.9'x0.9'; Surf Br = 12.8
See observing notes for NGC 3890.
William Herschel found NGC 3939 = H. III-971 on 2 Apr 1801
(sweep 1096) and noted "extremely faint, very small, round." This is one of 15 far northern galaxies
with large systematic errors due to a misidentification of the offset star and
the telescope misaligned off the meridian. A corrected position matching
As it turns out, Herschel had already discovered this galaxy on 12 Dec 1797 (sweep 1068) and it was catalogued as III. 940 (later NGC 3890). So, NGC 3939 is a duplicate of NGC 3890.
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NGC 3940 = UGC 6852 = MCG +04-28-082 = CGCG 127-089 = PGC 37224
11 52 46.5 +20 59 21; Leo
V = 13.1; Size 1.3'x1.2'; Surf Br = 13.3
24" (5/20/20): at 225x and 375x; fairly faint, fairly small, round, slightly brighter core that is sharply concentrated with a very small bright nucleus, ~40" diameter with suggestions of a larger very low surface brightness halo.
17.5" (4/7/89): fairly faint, small, slightly elongated
WNW-ESE, small bright core, stellar nucleus. A mag 11 star is 2.4' SE. Member of the NGC 3937 group with
William Herschel discovered NGC 3940 = H. III-380 = h1004 on 26 Apr 1785 (sweep 402) and noted "faint, small." His RA was 10 seconds too large. He swept NGC 3940 again on 27 Dec 1786 (sweep 671) and noted "suspected; but doubtful; probably 2 very faint and very close stars." On this sweep, Caroline's reduction is 3' too far SSW and it wasn't equated with his earlier discovery. Oddly, this was the 4th galaxy observed in the fairly short sweep lasting about an hour and half that he was uncertain or thought was probably a "deception" (NGC 3821, NGC 3910, NGC 3926, NGC 3940).
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11 52 55.3 +36 59 10; UMa
V = 10.3; Size 3.6'x2.5'; Surf Br = 12.5; PA = 10°
24" (2/15/18): at 200x; bright, fairly large, elongated 3:2 N-S, ~2.5'x1.8'. Sharply concentrated with an intense core. At 375x the core increases to a very small, quasi-stellar nucleus. Type Ia SN 2018pv (discovered on 3 Feb at the pre-max stage) was easily visible at 13th magnitude, but located only 4" E of center, right up against the edge of the bright nucleus.
17.5" (4/6/91): bright, fairly small, elongated 2:1 N-S, 2.5'x1.2', high surface brightness, small very bright mottled core, substellar nucleus, fairly small halo. A mag 13.5 star is 1.6' ENE of center.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3941 = H. I-173 = h1005 on 19 Mar 1787 (sweep 719) and recorded "vB, R, NM but very gradually diminishing about 2 1/2' diam." John Herschel made three observation and measured a more accurate position. Samuel Hunter, Lord Rosse's assistant on 17 Apr 1862, questioned if it was a "right-handed spiral?"
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11 51 30.1 -11 25 29; Crt
V = 13.2; Size 1.4'x0.8'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 127°
18" (3/19/04): faint, fairly small, irregularly round, 0.8'x0.6'. Low, even surface brightness with no discernable core.
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3942 = LM 2-451 and
reported "mag 16.0, 0.8'x0.5', E 160°, gradually very little brighter
middle." There is nothing near his position, but 1.3 min of RA due west is
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NGC 3943 = MCG +04-28-084 = CGCG 127-090 = PGC 37237
11 52 56.6 +20 28 44; Leo
V = 13.5; Size 1.0'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.3
17.5" (4/7/89): faint, small, oval, small bright core. Located 6' NE of mag 7.3 SAO 82020. Located in a group with NGC 3937 9' NNW.
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3943 on 27 Apr 1865 with
the 11-inch refractor at Copenhagen.
His position, measured on 2 nights, matches
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11 53 05.1 +26 12 25; Leo
V = 12.9; Size 1.4'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 25°
17.5" (5/4/02): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 3:2 SW-NE, 0.9'x0.6', brighter core. Situated between two mag 10.5-11 stars 2.5' W and 3.5' SE.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3944 = H. III-322 = h1007 on
6 Apr 1785 (sweep 393) and simply noted "vF, stellar." Caroline's reduction is 3.7' southwest
of
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11 53 13.6 +60 40 32; UMa
V = 10.8; Size 5.8'x3.6'; Surf Br = 13.9; PA = 15°
17.5" (4/13/91): bright, fairly small, slightly elongated, 2.0'x1.5'. The small, very bright core has sharp edges and appears mottled with bright spots. The slightly elongated halo is much fainter. Three stars are near; a mag 12 star is 1.3' SW and two mag 13.5 star lie 1.7' NW and 1.3' S.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3945 = H. I-251 = h1006 on 19 Mar 1790 (sweep 953) and recorded "vB, perfectly R, BN with F chevelure joining to it by imperceptible degrees; the whole about 1 1/2' dia. Caroline's reduced position is 16 tsec of RA too small. John Herschel made two observations and logged on sweep 344 "B; R; pretty suddenly brighter middle; 60"; a star precedes 8 sec of time from neb in PA 215.9°."
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NGC 3946 = MCG +04-28-089 = CGCG 127-096 = PGC 37268
11 53 20.6 +21 01 17; Leo
V = 14.5; Size 0.6'x0.5'; Surf Br = 13.0
17.5" (4/7/89): very faint, extremely small,
round. Located 3.0' ENE of a mag
10.5 star. Member of the NGC 3937
group with
Guillaume Bigourdan discovered NGC 3946 = Big. 49, along
with
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11 53 20.3 +20 45 06; Leo
V = 13.2; Size 1.4'x1.2'; Surf Br = 13.6
17.5" (4/7/89): moderately bright, fairly small, oval
E-W. A mag 15.5 star is at the
east edge 0.9' from center.
Located 3.2' SE of a mag 10 star.
Member of the NGC 3937 group with
William Herschel discovered NGC 3947 = H. II-403 = h1008 on 26 Apr 1785 (sweep 402) and recorded "F, S, irr F." His position is 17 sec too far west. He measured a more accurate position on two later observations, including 27 Dec 1785 (sweep 671). John Herschel recorded "F; mE; bM; a coarse D * precedes."
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11 53 36.7 +20 57 03; Leo
= *, Corwin
Guillaume Bigourdan discovered NGC 3948 = Big. 50 on 23 Jun 1886. There are no galaxies at his position, which is 14 sec of RA east and 4' south of NGC 3946, which he also discovered. At this offset, though is a mag 13.4 star. RNGC misidentifies NGC 3954 as NGC 3948.
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11 53 41.6 +47 51 31; UMa
V = 11.1; Size 2.9'x1.7'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 120°
17.5" (4/7/89): bright, fairly large, oval NW-SE, broad
concentration, substellar nucleus.
Forms a pair with
William Herschel discovered NGC 3949 = H. I-202 = h1009 on 5 Feb 1788 (sweep 808) and logged "pB or cB, pS, lE." John Herschel made two observations, first logging "B; mE; very gradually brighter middle." Nearby NGC 3950 was found at Birr Castle.
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NGC 3950 = MCG +08-22-030: = Holm 301b = PGC 37294
11 53 41.3 +47 53 05; UMa
V = 15.6; Size 0.4'x0.35'
17.5" (4/7/89): seen as an extremely faint mag 15.5-16.0 stellar object located 1.8' N of NGC 3949. The redshift-based light travel time is 1.0 billion years!
Lawrence Parsons, the 4th Lord Rosse, or assistant Ralph Copeland discovered NGC 3950 on 31 Mar 1872. While observing NGC 3949 = GC 2604 he noted a "companion nebula north about 2.5'." On 27 Apr 1875, Dreyer's micrometric measurement placed the nova in position angle 356.5° (north), distance 154.6". There is a very faint galaxy, PGC 37294, close north but the separation is only 1.6', so Dreyer's offset is 1' too far north. Despite the error, this galaxy was likely seen at Birr Castle. Karl Reinmuth identifies this galaxy as NGC 3950 in his 1926 photographic survey Die Herschel-Nebel.
The RNGC position is 4' north of NGC 3949. Dorothy Carlson misidentifies NGC 3950 as a star.
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11 53 41.2 +23 22 56; Leo
V = 13.6; Size 1.1'x0.5'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 172°
17.5" (5/4/02): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated
2:1 ~N-S, 0.9'x0.5', weak concentration.
Brightest in a string of five galaxies including
William Herschel discovered NGC 3951 = H. III-342 = h1010 on 10 Apr 1785 (sweep 394) and noted "vF, vS, lE." John Herschel noted "vF; S; R" and measured a fairly accurate position.
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11 53 40.6 -03 59 46; Vir
V = 13.1; Size 1.6'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.1; PA = 85°
24" (5/20/20): at 375x; fairly faint to moderately
bright, elongated 5:2 E-W, broad weak concentration, ~50"x20". Mag 8.2
17.5" (5/10/86): fairly faint, thin edge-on, faint arms
~E-W, brighter core. Located 7.5'
SSE of mag 8.3
William Herschel discovered NGC 3952 = H. III-612 = h1012 on 11 Mar 1787 (sweep 709) and noted "vF, cS, E." Caroline's reduction is 2' north of MCG -01-30-044 = PGC 37285. John Herschel made 3 observations and on sweep 147 called it "F; lE; nearly in parallel; resolvable??"
Lewis Swift found this galaxy on 23 Mar 1895 and reported
Sw. 11-127 (later
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11 53 48.8 +52 19 35; UMa
V = 10.1; Size 6.9'x3.5'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 13°
48" (5/2/19): at 375x and 545x; very bright, large spiral with 3 visible arms, extending .nearly 6'x2.5' SSW-NNE The galaxy is sharply concentrated with a very bright, round nucleus. A moderate contrast bar extends through the nucleus in a SW-NE orientation. A long, gently curving spiral arm extends north into the outer halo and curves counterclockwise to the NE. A low contrast, long spiral arm (~2.5' in length) drapes due south on the east side of the core/bar. A mag 14.5 star is just within this arm [0.9' NE of center]. An extremely faint HII patch is east of this arm at the edge of the halo [1.4' E of center]. Finally, an outer section of the southern spiral arm was easily seen and brightest in a patch at the south tip [2' from center]. The arms bends sharply from SW to NE at the outer end. A mag 14 star is close to the W edge [51" from center].
17.5" (3/19/88): very bright, very large, elongated ~N-S, 5'x2', very bright core, stellar nucleus. A mag 13 star is at the west edge, 0.9' from the center, and a brighter mag 11 star is off the NE side, 2.7' from center. NGC 3953 is a member of the NGC 3992 (M109) group = LGG 258.
16x80 finder (3/19/88): visible as a fairly large, elongated patch.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3953 = H. V-45 = h1011 on 12 Apr 1789 (sweep 919). He recorded "considerably bright, bright nucleus with faint branches, 6 or 7' length, 3 or 4' broad." John Herschel reported "B; L; very suddenly brighter in the middle; r; 3' diam. Fine object."
Henk Bril has proposed that NGC 3953, and not NGC 3992, is the object discovered by Pierre Méchain, and associated with M109. See http://www.astrobril.nl/FortinOther.html#M109
Bindon Stoney, Lord Rosse's assistant on 3 Mar 1851,
reported "S neb, vF, 6' npp."
Although this object was not mentioned again in 3 later observations at
Birr Castle, it probably refers to 16th magnitude
******************************
NGC 3954 = UGC 6866 = MCG +04-28-091 = CGCG 127-098 = PGC 37291
11 53 41.7 +20 52 57; Leo
V = 13.4; Size 0.6'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.5
17.5" (4/7/89): fairly faint, very small, round, small bright core, faint stellar nucleus. Forms the northern vertex of an isosceles triangle with a mag 10 star 4.4' SSE and a mag 11 star 4.2' SSW. Member of the NGC 3937 group with NGC 3947 10' SW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3954 = H. III-381 = h1013 on
26 Apr 1785 (sweep 402) and noted "vF, R." His re-reduced position is 10 sec of RA following
******************************
11 53 57.1 -23 09 50; Crt
V = 11.9; Size 2.9'x0.9'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 165°
17.5" (5/11/96): fairly bright, moderately large, very
elongated 4:1 NNW-SSE, 2.3'x0.6', broad concentration to a 1.5' diameter
core. A mag 14.5 star is just preceding
the NNW tip 1.1' from center.
Located 4.7' SW of mag 8.9
William Herschel discovered NGC 3955 = H. II-623 on 21 Dec
1786 (sweep 660) and recorded "vF, S, E. Near the meridian but a few deg. from np to sf., a little
brighter south of the middle."
His position and description matches
******************************
11 54 00.9 -20 34 01; Crt
V = 12.1; Size 3.4'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 58°
17.5" (5/11/96): fairly faint, fairly large, very elongated 7:2 SW-NE. Broad concentration with no well-defined core. Halo gradually fades into background, so difficult to estimate size but roughly 3.2'x1.0' (slightly larger than similar NGC 3955). Located 4.5' SE of mag 8.6 SAO 180275. Member of the NGC 4038/39 (Antennae) group.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3956 = H. III-290 = h3368 on 10 Mar 1785 (sweep 709) and logged "eF, pL, broadly elongated from a few degrees sp to nf." John Herschel made a single observation and recorded "F; pL; mE; gradually little brighter middle; 60"; pos 236.8°." Both Herschels measured accurate positions.
******************************
11 54 01.5 -19 34 09; Crt
V = 11.8; Size 3.1'x0.7'; Surf Br = 12.5; PA = 173°
13.1" (2/23/85): moderately bright, edge-on spindle 4:1
N-S.
8" (5/21/82): very faint, small, spindle-shape.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3957 = H. II-294 = Sw. 11-124 on 7 Feb 1785 (sweep 368) and recorded "F, S, E, r." His position is just 1' too far east.
Lewis Swift probably found this galaxy again on 20 Feb 1898 and reported "B, S, eE, a ray." Dreyer assumed this was a new nebula, which he catalogued as IC 2965. There is nothing at Swift's position, but 3.5 tmin of time east (same declination) is NGC 3957 and the description fits. Harold Corwin suggests NGC 3957 = IC 2965, the only plausible candidate he could find.
******************************
11 54 33.6 +58 22 01; UMa
V = 13.0; Size 1.5'x0.7'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 28°
18" (5/31/03): fairly faint, moderately large,
elongated 5:2 SSW-NNE, slightly brighter core. A mag 14 star lies ~30" N. Located 8.2' SSW of
William Herschel discovered NGC 3958 = H. II-833 = h1014 on 18 Mar 1790 (sweep 951). He noted "F, S." John Herschel made two similar observations and measured a more accurate position.
******************************
11 54 37.7 -07 45 24; Crt
V = 13.2; Size 1.2'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 155°
17.5" (4/15/93): faint, small, round, small bright
core. Located midway between a mag
13 star 30" off the SE edge and a mag 13.5 star 30" off the NW
edge. Forms a pair with
Wilhelm Tempel discovered NGC 3959 = T. 5-11, along with NGC
3967, on 19 May 1881 and noted "between two star mag 14 and
16.". His micrometric
position (measured twice) matches
******************************
NGC 3960 = ESO 170-14 = Cr 250 = Mel 108
11 50 33 -55 40 36; Cen
V = 8.3; Size 7'
13.1" (2/20/04 - Costa Rica): roughly 30 fainter stars are resolved in a 6' group over unresolved background haze. The cluster is moderately bright, weakly compressed and rich in faint stars although it does not contain any stars brighter than 12th magnitude! Located 1.5 degrees due north of the "Blue Planetary", NGC 3918. NGC 3882 lies 56' SW. This is an old open cluster with an age of roughly one billion years.
James Dunlop discovered NGC 3960 = D 349 = h3369 on 30 Apr 1826. He made 4 observations with a summary description, "a pretty large, faint nebula, 6' or 7' diameter, easily resolvable with slight compression of the stars to the centre, or rather towards the following side of the centre." His position is just 5' SSE of center (relatively small error for him).
John Herschel only observed this cluster on one sweep (5 Apr 1837) and noted "cluster, VI class, pretty rich, irregular figure, round with long appendages, gradually pretty much brighter to the middle, 9', stars 13th magnitude."
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11 54 57.6 +69 19 48; Dra
V = 13.5; Size 1.3'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.9
18" (3/5/05): faint, fairly small, round, 0.5' diameter, slightly brighter core. With averted vision the faint halo grows to 40". Situated between a mag 14 star 1' SW and a mag 14.5 star 1.5' NE.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3961 = H. III-905 on 7 Apr 1793 (sweep 1037). He logged "extremely faint, very small, 300x confirmed it." His position is accurate although Bigourdan missed finding this galaxy (too faint) and it was listed as a dubious object by Father Hagen.
******************************
11 54 40.1 -13 58 30; Crt
V = 10.7; Size 2.6'x2.2'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 15°
17.5" (5/11/96): bright, moderately large, slightly elongated 5:4 N-S, 2.0'x1.7'. Sharply concentrated with a bright 25" core and increasing to a nonstellar nucleus. Forms a right triangle with two mag 10.5 stars 2.2' S and 3.1' SSE.
8" (5/21/82): fairly faint, very small, round, bright core.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3962 = H. I-67 = h3370 on 8
Feb 1785 (sweep 372) and logged "cB, pL, mbM, iF." John Herschel made two observations
from the Cape of Good Hope and first logged "vB; R; pretty suddenly much
brighter middle; 40"; forms a triangle with 2 stars 10-11m." His position matches
******************************
NGC 3963 = UGC 6884 = MCG +10-17-100 = CGCG 292-044 = LGG 251-007 = PGC 37386
11 54 58.7 +58 29 37; UMa
V = 11.9; Size 2.8'x2.5'; Surf Br = 13.9
18" (5/31/03): moderately bright, fairly large, slightly elongated, 2.5'x2.0', fairly low irregular surface brightness. Asymmetric appearance with the slightly brighter core offset from center and one or two faint stars or knots embedded near the edge of the halo (breezy conditions with fairly poor seeing made confirmation difficult). Forms a pair with NGC 3958 8.2' SSW.
17.5" (5/2/92): moderately bright, moderately large, round, 2' diameter, irregular surface brightness. A mag 14.5 star is at the SSW edge of the halo 0.5' from the center. The very small core of the galaxy appears to be just NE of this star. A non-stellar knot is clearly visible with averted vision at the NE edge of the halo.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3963 = H. IV-67 = h1015 on 18 Mar 1790 (sweep 951) and recorded "pB, vL, R. The greatest part of it equally bright, then fading away pretty suddenly. Between 2 and 3' dia." His re-reduced position (with respect to 66 UMa) is 20 seconds of RA too large, but John Herschel measured a more accurate position.
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11 54 53.4 +28 15 45; Leo
V = 13.8; Size 0.9'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 76°
17.5" (5/4/02): faint, small, elongated 5:3 WSW-ENE, starry center. A mag 11.5 star lies 0.9' NNE of center. Very close to the Leo-Ursa Major border.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3964 = h1016 on 30 Mar 1827 and recorded "A * 10m with eF neb 45° sp; 30". The neb by a diagram made at the time is oval, and forms a kind of appendage to the star." His positions on 3 sweeps and descriptions point directly to CGCG 157-050 = PGC 37375.
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11 54 23.1 -10 52 01; Crt
Size 0.6'x0.4'; PA = 123°
24" (3/22/14): very faint, small, round,
12"-15" diameter.
Immediately picked up once the position was centered at 375x. Located 11.8' NNW of mag 8.2
Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 3965 = LM 2-452 in 1886
with the 26" refractor at the Leander McCormick Observatory. His notes mention "mag 16.0, 0.1'
dia, R, brighter middle to a nucleus, *9.5 np 4'." There is nothing at his position, but
Harold Corwin identifies
******************************
11 56 44.1 +32 01 17; UMa
See observing notes for
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3966 on 8 May 1864 with the 11-inch refractor at Copenhagen. He noted a mag 12-13 star that precedes by 4.1 seconds of time and 22" south (separation of 49" from the nebula) but there is nothing at his single position. Max Wolf suggested in list VIII that d'Arrest's RA was off by 30 seconds and Dreyer copied this "correction" into the IC 2 notes. The corrected position matches CGCG 157-056 = IC 2981 (see that number) and RNGC, MCG, CGCG and PGC identify CGCG 157-056 as NGC 3966.
But Harold Corwin (e-mail from 6 Mar 1998) notes that NGC 3986 has a star at the exact separation given by d'Arrest, although this galaxy is over 20' southeast of d'Arrest's position (one of his few very poor positions). Curiously, d'Arrest mentions he was searching for h1027 = NGC 3986! So, NGC 3966 = NGC 3986. See Corwin's identification notes.
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NGC 3967 = MCG -01-30-047 = PGC 37398
11 55 10.4 -07 50 37; Crt
V = 10.7; Size 1.5'x1.1'; Surf Br = 11.1; PA = 118°
17.5" (4/15/93): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 3:2 WNW-ESE, small bright core. A mag 13.5 star is 1' ENE. A semicircle of five stars with a 4' diameter is about 5' SE. NGC 3959 lies 10' NW. This galaxy does not appear as bright as listed magnitude V = 10.7.
Wilhelm Tempel discovered NGC 3967 = T. 5-13, along with NGC
3959, on 19 May 1881. His
micrometric position (measured twice) matches
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11 55 28.8 +11 58 07; Leo
V = 11.8; Size 2.7'x1.9'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 10°
17.5" (5/11/02): moderately bright and large, elongated
5:3 SSW-NNE, 2'x1.3'. The halo is
pretty diffuse but brightens fairly suddenly to a distinct core and occasional
stellar nucleus. Located 2.6' WSW
of mag 9.8
William Herschel discovered NGC 3968 = H. II-162 = h1018 on
17 Apr 1784 (sweep 199) and recorded "not vF, pL, irregularly round, r,
very little brighter towards the following part." His position (Caroline's
reduction) is 2.3' southeast of
******************************
11 55 09.2 -18 55 38; Crt
V = 13.0; Size 1.4'x0.9'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 64°
17.5" (5/11/96): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 3:2 SW-NE, 1.2'x0.8'. Weak, even concentration to an ill-defined brighter core. Located 3.7' S of a mag 10 star. A mag 12 star is 1.8' ENE.
Ormond Stone discovered NGC 3969 = LM 2-453 in 1886 with the
26" refractor at Leander McCormick Observatory. He reported "mag
15.0, 0.2' dia, gradually brighter middle to a nucleus, *10 in PA 340° at 4'
distance." There is nothing at his position, but 10' south is
******************************
11 55 28.1 -12 03 41; Crt
V = 13.7; Size 1.2'x0.6'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 98°
17.5" (5/11/96): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated
2:1 E-W, 1.0'x0.5'. Contains a
round, very small, bright core with faint extensions. A mag 11 star is 2.3' SSE. Forms a pair with
John Herschel discovered NGC 3970 = h1020, along with NGC 3974, on 9 Mar 1828 and noted "F; S; R; pretty suddenly brighter middle; 15". The p of 2."
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11 55 36.4 +29 59 45; UMa
V = 12.7; Size 1.4'x1.2'; Surf Br = 13.1
17.5" (5/4/02): fairly faint, fairly small, round, 1.0' diameter, moderate surface brightness. Collinear with a 3' string of three equal mag 12.5 stars to the SSE (closest 3' S).
William Herschel discovered NGC 3971 = H. II-724 = h1019 on
3 Feb 1788 (sweep 805) and noted "F, vS." John Herschel recorded "pB; R; bM. An exact obs." See comments for
******************************
11 55 45.2 +55 19 13; UMa
V = 12.3; Size 3.9'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.7; PA = 120°
18" (4/30/11): moderately bright, fairly large, very elongated 3:1 or 7:2 NW-SE, 2.0'x0.6', weak concentration. Two mag 13.4 stars to the southwest are nearly collinear with the core of the galaxy. NGC 3972 is listed as a member of the UMa NED1 (LGG 241) subgroup of the M109 or UMa cloud.
I observed Supernova 2011by, situated 19" N and 5" E of the nucleus and discovered just a few days previously on April 26. It was easily visible even in darkening twilight. The magnitude was pretty similar to the two stars on the southwest side.
17.5" (4/6/91): fairly faint, moderately large, very
elongated 4:1 NW-SE, almost even surface brightness. Forms a pair with
William Herschel discovered NGC 3972 = H. II-789 on 14 Apr 1789
(sweep 920) and noted "Two, the first [NGC 3972] pB, E. The second [NGC 3977], F, S." His
single position is 3' west of
******************************
NGC 3973 = MCG +02-31-001 = CGCG 068-093 = CGCG 069-005 =
11 55 37.0 +11 59 51; Leo
V = 14.9; Size 0.5'x0.4'; Surf Br = 12.9
17.5" (5/11/02): extremely faint, very small, slightly elongated, 0.4'x0.3'. Nearly lost in the glare of mag 9.8 SAO 99868 just 45" SSE. This galaxy is the faint companion of NGC 3968 2.7' SW.
R.J. Mitchell discovered NGC 3973 with LdR's 72" on 15 Mar 1855, while observing NGC 3968. He simply noted "[NGC 3968] is pF, R, suddenly brighter middle. Nova nf." It was seen again by Dreyer on 16 Apr 1876 as "an eeF object, most probably an eS neb" at 56" separation in PA 318.6° from a mag 10 star.
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NGC 3974 = MCG -02-31-001 = PGC 37452
11 55 40.2 -12 01 39; Crt
V = 12.9; Size 1.3'x1.2'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 10°
17.5" (5/11/96): faint, fairly small, irregularly
round, 1.0' diameter, weak concentration.
A mag 14 star is 1.4' preceding.
Fainter of pair with NGC 3970 3.6' SW. Located 20' WNW of mag 7
John Herschel discovered NGC 3974 = h1021, along with NGC 3964, on 9 Mar 1828 and recorded "vF; S; R; bM; 15". The f of 2."
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11 55 53.7 +60 31 46; UMa
V = 15.5; Size 0.7'x0.4'; Surf Br = 14.0; PA = 95°
17.5" (4/13/91): extremely faint, small, round, very
low even surface brightness, requires averted vision. Forms a pair with
Lawrence Parsons, the 4th Lord Rosse, discovered NGC 3975 on
21 Feb 1874 and recorded as a "vF, vS knot" 17.2 sec preceding and
32" north of [NGC 3978].
"It was quite certainly and repeatedly seen by Lord Rosse and
Copeland." This offset points
to
This galaxy is mentioned in the UGC notes to NGC 3978,
though questioned if it is NGC 3975.
See Harold Corwin's identification notes on Lewis Swift's
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11 55 57.3 +06 44 56; Vir
V = 11.5; Size 3.8'x1.2'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 53°
17.5" (3/28/87): moderately bright, thin edge-on WSW-ENE, small bright core is possibly stellar.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3976 = H. II-132 = h1022 on 13 Apr 1784 (sweep 191) and logged "pL, E, pBM, r." John Herschel recorded (sweep 117) "B; E 30° nf to sp; very suddenly much brighter middle to nearly a star. The arms very faint."
Johann Palisa found this galaxy on 26 Mar 1886 with the 26" Clark refractor at the Vienna Observatory and thought it was new. His micrometric position in AN 2782 is accurate.
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NGC 3977 = NGC 3980 = UGC 6909 = MCG +09-20-034 = CGCG 269-017 = Holm 304b = PGC 37497
11 56 07.2 +55 23 26; UMa
V = 13.4; Size 1.7'x1.5'; Surf Br = 14.3
18" (4/30/11): fairly faint, fairly small, slightly elongated N-S, 40"x35", weak even concentration to a small brighter core. Located 5.4' NE of NGC 3972 in a group.
17.5" (4/6/91): faint, very small, round, even surface brightness. Forms a pair with NGC 3972 5.4' SW.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3977 = H. II-790 on 14 Apr 1789 (sweep 920) and noted "Two, the first [NGC 3972] pB, E. The second [NGC 3977], F, S." His single position is 3' west of NGC 3972 and no offset was given for II-790. But Dreyer reobserved this galaxy on 31 May 1878 at Birr Castle and noted "nf one F, R, Pos 37.7°, Dist 323.3" [from NGC 3972].
Lewis Swift independently discovered the galaxy on 16 Apr
1885 and described
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NGC 3978 = UGC 6910 = MCG +10-17-105 = CGCG 292-047 = Holm 306a = PGC 37502
11 56 10.3 +60 31 21; UMa
V = 12.7; Size 1.6'x1.5'; Surf Br = 13.5
17.5" (4/13/91): fairly faint, fairly small, round,
broad concentration. Located just
4' W of mag 8.0
William Herschel discovered NGC 3978 = H. II-840 = h1023 on
19 Mar 1790 (sweep 953) and noted "F, S, bM." Caroline's reduced position is 3' south
of
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11 56 01.1 -02 43 15; Vir
V = 12.9; Size 1.1'x0.9'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 112°
17.5" (5/11/02): fairly faint, small, slightly elongated WSW-ENE, 0.7'x0.5', even concentration to a very small brighter core. A mag 12.5 star lies 1.0' NNE of center.
Edward Holden discovered NGC 3979 = Sw. 3-61 on 23 Apr 1881 with the 15.6-inch Clark refractor at the Washburn Observatory and recorded "pF, the nebula precedes DM 2593, 42s [of time]. A star 11.5 north and following 30"." His position and description matches UGC 6907.
Lewis Swift independently found the galaxy on 27 Apr 1886
and reported it in his 3rd discovery list (#61). Both Holden (1) and Swift (2)
are credited in the NGC. Swift found the galaxy again 11 years later on 23 May
1897, while observing at Echo Mountain in southern California. His last
observation (Sw. 11-129) was off by 1.5 min in RA too far west so Dreyer
catalogued it again as
******************************
NGC 3980 = NGC 3977 = UGC 6909 = MCG +09-20-034 = CGCG 269-017 = PGC 37497
11 56 07.2 +55 23 26; UMa
See observing notes for NGC 3977.
Lewis Swift discovered NGC 3980 = Sw. 1-18 on 16 Apr 1885 and noted eF; pL; pE; v diff; D neb nr." His position is just 7 sec of RA east of NGC 3977 (discovered by WH in 1789). Both Dorothy Carlson, in her 1940 NGC correction paper, and Harold Corwin equate NGC 3980 with NGC 3977. The "D[ouble] neb nr" might apply to NGC 3990 and 3998, though the NGC description reads "D star nr", which would then apply to a mag 12/13 double star 2.5' east-southeast. Another possibility is that NGC 3980 refers to NGC 3972. This galaxy is a better fit with Swift's description "pL; pE", but it is further off in position (6' southwest).
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NGC 3981 = Arp 289 = VV 8a = ESO 572-020 = MCG -03-31-001 = UGCA 255 = LGG 263-003 = PGC 37496
11 56 07.1 -19 53 49; Crt
V = 11.3; Size 5.2'x2.3'; Surf Br = 13.8; PA = 15°
48" (4/20/17): at 488x; bright, large, very elongated
4:1 SSW-NNE, ~2.5'x0.6'. The
central region consists of a bright very elongated bar-like core that condenses
to a small brighter nucleus. A
fairly thin, straight arm is evident extending north by over 1' on the east
side of the galaxy. The
counterpart extending south on the west side was more difficult to distinguish
from the halo on the south side. A
low contrast knot (
13.1" (2/16/85): moderately bright, very elongated 3:1 SSW-NNE, weak concentration. A mag 13 star is off the east edge 1.0' from the center. The galaxy forms the east vertex of a rough isosceles triangle with two mag 10 stars 4.2' NW and 5.0' SSW. Member of the NGC 4038/39 (Antennae) group.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3981 = H. III-274 on 7 Feb 1785 (sweep 368) and noted "vF, pL, iF." His position is just 1' too far east.
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NGC 3982 = UGC 6918 = KUG 1153+554 = MCG +09-20-036 = CGCG 269-019 = LGG 250-007 = PGC 37520
11 56 28.1 +55 07 29; UMa
V = 11.0; Size 2.3'x2.0'; Surf Br = 12.5
18" (4/30/11): fairly bright, moderately large, round,
1.5' diameter. Broad concentration
but no real zones, though the center is slightly brighter. Two mag 12/13 stars lie 3.5' S. Located 23' SW of
17.5" (5/2/92): bright, moderately large, elongated 4:3 N-S, 2.0'x1.5', broad concentration but does not have a well-defined core except for a faint stellar nucleus or very faint star superimposed at center. A wide pair (1.0' separation) of mag 11 and 12 stars lie 3.5' S. Forms a wide pair with NGC 3972 13' NW.
17.5" (4/18/98): 13th magnitude supernova SN 1998aq (type Ia) was an easy object within the outer halo.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3982 = H. IV-62 = h1017 on 14 Apr 1789 (sweep 920). He recorded "considerably bright, quite round. A large place in the middle of nearly an equal brightness; towards the margin suddenly less bright." The description was included in his 1791 paper on "Nebulous Stars." and he commented "this seems rather to approach to the planetary sort."
John Herschel called this object "B; pL; R; nearly uniform, but hazy; diam 25"." His RA is exactly 1.0 tmin too large, but Heinrich d'Arrest measured an accurate position (on 5 nights). Ralph Copeland, observing with LdR's 72" in 1878, noted "definition not good, but feel sure that is a globular cluster."
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11 56 23.7 +23 52 05; Leo
V = 13.6; Size 1.1'x0.3'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 114°
17.5" (5/4/02): faint, elongated 3-1 WNW-ESE, 0.9'x0.3', very faint stellar nucleus. Appears to have a brighter bar along the major axis. Located 80' SSW of the NGC 4005 group (possible member?).
William Herschel discovered NGC 3983 = H. III-343 = h1024 on 10 Apr 1785 (sweep 394) and noted "vF, vS." John Herschel logged "F; S; R; pretty suddenly brighter in the middle" and measured an accurate position.
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NGC 3984 = NGC 3971: = UGC 6899 = MCG +05-28-047 = CGCG 157-054 = PGC 37443
11 55 36.4 +29 59 45; UMa
See observing notes for NGC 3971 and
UGC 6943 is mistakenly identified as NGC 3984 in modern catalogues including RC3 and the Uranometria 2000 atlas (first edition). It was not noticed in the field initially as two mag 12/13.5 stars (separation 15") are superimposed on the SW side and the galaxy is just a weak glow mostly following the pair. Appears round, although the halo is ill-defined, and perhaps 0.8' in diameter.
John Herschel discovered NGC 3984 = h1026 on 10 Apr 1831 and recorded "eF; R: bM; 25"." He later added "Supposed at the time to be II.724 [NGC 3971], but on reducing the obs, it differs 1 min in RA and 1 deg in PD, BOTH which can hardly be mistakes." There is nothing at his position.
Modern catalogues (including RC3) label UGC 6943, an extremely low surface brightness face-on spiral with two stars nearly superimposed, as NGC 3984. This galaxy is 1 min 15 sec of RA following Herschel's position as well as 2.5' north. This identification seems very unlikely due to the faintness of the galaxy and the fact that the bright nearby stars were not mentioned. Malcolm Thomson concludes that NGC 3984 is nonexistent.
Harold Corwin agrees that the NGC 3984 ≠ UGC 6943 but feels that despite errors in both RA and Dec, NGC 3984 is most likely a reobservation of NGC 3971. These entries were recorded on different sweeps and although NGC 3971 was described as "pB, R, bM", there are many situations where Herschel made very discordant estimates of brightness. See his identification notes.
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11 56 42.0 +48 20 02; UMa
V = 12.6; Size 1.3'x0.8'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 73°
17.5" (4/7/89): moderately bright, moderately large, oval WSW-ENE, broad moderate concentration, small bright core. Member of the NGC 3877 subgroup of the M109 (NGC 3992) group = LGG 258.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3985 = H. III-707 = h1025 on 5 Feb 1788 (sweep 808) and recorded "vF, vS. Another still fainter and smaller suspected sf." The latter object is either a faint star or nonexistent as there is only a single galaxy here. Soon after "A thick fog came up at once; it has been below all the evening."
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NGC 3986 = NGC 3966 = UGC 6920 = MCG +05-28-053 = CGCG 157-058 = PGC 37544
11 56 44.1 +32 01 17; UMa
V = 12.6; Size 3.1'x0.7'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 110°
48" (5/9/21): at 375x; moderately bright, large edge-on
with very thin arms extending nearly 10:1 WNW (excluding the central
region). Sharply concentrated with
a small bright bulge that concentrates towards the center. Overall ~2.5'x0.4', with thinner
extensions. A strong impression of
a thin dust lane slices though the center. A well matched pair of mag 13 stars at 9" separation
(DAM 653) is S of the western arm [50" from center].
17.5" (2/24/90): faint, small, edge-on E-W, bulging
core. A close double star is
located just 0.8' SW of the center consisting of mag 13 and 14 stars with
separation 9" oriented N-S.
Member of the
John Herschel discovered NGC 3986 = h1027 on 29 Apr 1827 and
logged "E nearly in parallel [east-west]; a * 11m near." His mean
position (3 observations) matches
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11 57 20.9 +25 11 42; Leo
V = 12.9; Size 2.2'x0.4'; Surf Br = 12.7; PA = 58°
24" (3/22/14): moderately bright, fairly large, very
elongated 7:2 SW-NE, 1.5'x0.4', large bright core, irregular surface
brightness. First of 4 in a string
with
17.5" (3/19/88): fairly faint, moderately large, edge-on WSW-ENE, weak concentration. Located 2.5' S of a mag 10.5 star. Member of the NGC 3987/4005 group with NGC 3989 2.6' NE, NGC 3993 4.6' NE and NGC 3997 7.5' NE.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3987 = H. III-323, along
with III-324 (either NGC 3993 or 3997) on 6 Apr 1785 (sweep 393). His description reads, "very
faint, little elongated. Suspected another extremely faint, about 5' or 6'
north following. I was pretty sure
of it." His single position
is 2' west of
In the NGC, Dreyer mistakenly assigned H. III-323 (with a
question mark) to
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11 57 24.2 +27 52 39; Leo
V = 13.7; Size 0.4'x0.4'
17.5" (4/9/99): fairly faint, very small, round,
20" diameter. Weak even
concentration to center but no core.
First of three on a line with
John Herschel discovered NGC 3988 = h1028 on 13 Apr 1831
recorded "vF; R; gradually brighter in the middle. The first of 2 [with NGC
4004]." On a later sweep he
logged "vF; S; R; suddenly brighter in the middle like a *. The p of 2 with several stars between
them." His position matches
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NGC 3989 = MCG +04-28-100 = CGCG 127-111 = WBL 368-002 = LGG 260-005 = Holm 308d = PGC 37599
11 57 26.7 +25 13 58; Leo
V = 14.7; Size 0.6'x0.3'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 135°
24" (3/22/14): very faint, small, round, 15" diameter. Located 1.2' E of a mag 10.5 star and 2.6' NNE of NGC 3987. NGC 3993 is 2.6' E.
17.5" (3/19/88): extremely faint, very small,
round. Located 1.2' E of a mag 10
star. Member of the
R.J. Mitchell discovered NGC 3989 at Birr Castle on 27 Apr
1854 and was labeled "Xi" on the later constructed sketch. Although a micrometric position was not
measured, the identification with
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NGC 3990 = UGC 6938 = MCG +09-20-043 = CGCG 269-024 = Holm 310b = PGC 37618
11 57 35.6 +55 27 31; UMa
V = 12.6; Size 1.4'x0.8'; Surf Br = 12.6; PA = 40°
18" (4/30/11): moderately bright, fairly small, oval 3:2 SW-NE, 0.4'x0.3'. Located 2.9' W of brighter NGC 3998. Member of the NGC 3992 (M109) group.
17.5" (4/6/91): fairly faint, very small, slightly
elongated SW-NE, small bright core.
Forms a pair with NGC 3998 2.9' E.
Located 4.4' S of mag 9.2
William Herschel discovered NGC 3990 = H. II-791 = h1029, along with NGC 3998, on 14 Apr 1789 (sweep 920) and recorded both as "Two, the last [NGC 3998] cB or vB, R, very gradually brighter middle. The preceding [NGC 3990] pB, E, S."
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11 57 31.1 +32 20 16; UMa
V = 13.1; Size 1.4'x0.4'; Surf Br = 12.4; PA = 33°
48" (5/9/21): at 610x; fairly bright, moderately large,
very thin edge-on ~6:1 ~SSW-NNE, slightly brighter elongated core region. At the NNE end is an unusually bright
stellar or quasi-stellar knot ( exceptionally bright star forming region (SFR),
catalogued as [ZBF2015]#1), that could easily be mistaken as a bright superposed
star. Just to its south is a small, fainter patch (separate SFR #6/7). The prominent NNE end extends at least
12" and is tilted (N-S orientation) with respect to the major axis of the
rest of the galaxy. NGC 3991
galaxy is interacting with NGC 3995 (forming Arp 313 = VV 249) 4' SE. NGC 3994, just 2' SW, completes the
trio
24" (5/25/14): moderately to fairly bright, very elongated 4:1 SSW-NNE, 1.0'x0.25'. At 375x, this irregular galaxy has a striking, asymmetric appearance with a very bright, elongated knot (site of very active star formation), 15"x8", at the NNE end. At 375x the knot is slightly skewed to the major axis of the longer (but fainter) portion of the galaxy. There is no central brightening, in fact, the galaxy dims just south-southwest of the knot (though not completely detaching the knot) and then brightens along the southern half. At best, there was a very small, inconspicuous core. First in an excellent trio (KTG 39) with NGC 3994 3.8' SSE and the remarkable NGC 3995 3.8' SE.
17.5" (2/24/90): moderately bright, fairly small, edge-on SSW-NNE, 1.0'x0.3'. This object has a bright stellar knot at the NNE end (about 25" from the center) giving an unusual asymmetric appearance! First of three striking elongated systems with NGC 3994 3.7' SSE and NGC 3995 3.9' SE.
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3991, along with NGC 3995, on 5 Feb 1864 with the 11" refractor at the Copenhagen Observatory. His position (measured on 3 nights) is accurate.
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NGC 3992 = M109 = UGC 6937 = MCG +09-20-044 = CGCG 269-023 =
11 57 35.9 +53 22 29; UMa
V = 9.8; Size 7.6'x4.7'; Surf Br = 13.6; PA = 68°
48" (4/20/17): stunning showpiece barred spiral! The central bar extends 1.5' in length SW-NE and is highlighted by an extremely bright, rounder nucleus. Striking spiral arms wrap around the bar/nucleus forming an oval ring, with brighter "handles" at the ends of the bar. A pair of outer spiral arms, ~6'x4', extend west on the north side and east on the south side. A mag 13 star is superimposed [50" NNW of center].
18" (5/14/07): bright, large, elongated 3:2 or 5:3 SW-NE, ~6.5'x4'. The galaxy lies between a mag 9.5 star 5' SW and a mag 12 star 3.4' NE of center, just beyond the edge of the halo. The galaxy is sharply concentrated with a fainter halo and a bright, oval core that increases slightly to a faint stellar nucleus. With averted vision, the halo is quite extensive and reaches to the mag 12 star to the northeast. The halo appears mottled or dusty with an impression of spiral structure. A mag 12.5 star is superimposed less than 1' N of the center and another mag 12 star is near the SW end. Brightest in a galaxy group (LGG 258) with 41 members at z ~.003.
17.5" (3/19/88): bright, large, elongated 5:3 SW-NE, at
least 6.0'x3.5', broadly concentrated halo, large faint halo. A mag 13 star is superimposed on the
halo 50" NNW of center. A mag
13 star is at the NE edge of the halo 3.4' from center. Located 5.1' NE of mag 9.3
13.1" (3/24/84): fairly bright, large, elongated SW-NE, bright core, diffuse halo. A star is superimposed NW of the core.
Charles Messier probably discovered M109 = NGC 3992 = H. IV-61 = h1030 in March or April 1781 and added a position by hand in his personal copy of the catalog. Méchain has been given credit for discovery of this object, but according to the SEDS page, his position corresponds well with NGC 3953, not NGC 3992. See http://www.astrobril.nl/FortinOther.html#M109
William Herschel independently discovered NGC 3992 = H. IV-61 on 12 Apr 1789 (sweep 919), unawared of the earlier observations. He recorded "pretty bright, considerably bright nucleus with very faint extended branches about 30° np to sf, 5 or 6' long, 3 or 4' br." He recorded it again on the next sweep as "cB, vL, Br Ncl with vF elongated branches 7 or 8' long"
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NGC 3993 = UGC 6935 = MCG +04-28-101 = CGCG 127-112 = Holm 308A = LGG 260-002 = WBL 368-003 = PGC 37619
11 57 37.8 +25 14 25; Leo
V = 13.9; Size 1.6'x0.4'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 141°
24" (3/22/14): fairly faint, moderately large, very elongated 3:1 or 7:2 NW-SE, 1.2'x0.35', weak concentration. Two mag 11.5-12 stars are off the NW end. Sandwiched between NGC 3997 3.0' NE and NGC 3987 4.7' SE. Also NGC 3989 is 2.5' W.
17.5" (3/19/88): faint, fairly small, very elongated NW-SE, broad concentration. Forms a pair with NGC 3989 2.7' WSW. Member of the NGC 4007 group.
R.J. Mitchell discovered NGC 3993 on 25 Apr 1854 and it was labeled "Eta" on the constructed sketch of the group made at Birr Castle. In a later observation, a very faint star was noted close south-following and two mag 11-12 stars north-preceding. The micrometric position is very accurate.
Harold Corwin notes that WH's III-324 refers to NGC 3997 and not NGC 3993 as Dreyer assigned in his 1912 "Scientific Papers of WH". But Wolfgang Steinicke lists WH as the discoverer of NGC 3993 on 6 Apr 1785 (sweep 393), probably due to the better match in position.
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NGC 3994 = Arp 313 NED1 = VV 249b = KTG 39B = UGC 6936 = MCG +06-26-059 = CGCG 186-074 = Holm 309b = PGC 37616
11 57 36.9 +32 16 39; UMa
V = 12.7; Size 1.1'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.0; PA = 10°
48" (5/9/21): at 610x; bright, moderately large, elongated 5:2 SSW-NNE, ~1.0'x0.4', sharply concentrated with a very intense core and a brilliant nucleus.
24" (5/25/14): at 375x appeared fairly bright, elongated oval 5:2 SSW-NNE, 0.8'x35', well concentrated with a very bright core. Second in a striking trio (KTG 39) with NGC 3995 1.9' NE and NGC 3991 3.8' NNW.
17.5" (2/24/90): moderately bright, small, elongated
2:1 SSW-NNE, prominent core.
Second of three elongated systems with NGC 3991 3.8' NNW and NGC 3995
1.8' NE. Located 5' WNW of mag 6.4
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3994 on 6 Apr 1864 with the 11" refractor at the Copenhagen Observatory. His position, measured on 3 nights, is accurate and he accurately placed a mag 15 star (called 17th magnitude), which is 4 seconds of time due west.
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NGC 3995 = Arp 313 NED2 = VV 249a = KTG 39C = UGC 6944 = MCG +06-26-061 = CGCG 186-075 = Holm 309a = PGC 37624
11 57 44.1 +32 17 39; UMa
V = 12.4; Size 2.8'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 33°
48" (5/9/21): this bright, large distorted blue spiral
is interacting (Arp 313 = VV 249) with NGC 3991 4' NW and a normal spiral NGC
3994 is 2' SW. At 610x, the core
was prominent and a fairly faint bulge extended NE [on the SDSS this is a loop
or spiral arm with multiple knots].
A narrow, faint spiral arm is attached on the east side of the core and
extends NE. On the SW side of the
core, a more obvious, thin spiral arm extends south on the western side of the
galaxy. Beyond the arm to the
south is a diffuse region [blue knotty region on the SDSS]. Overall, the galaxy extends ~3 in
length in a nearly 3:1 ratio.
Forms a pair (non-interacting) with NGC 3994 2' SW, with interacting NGC
3991 4' NW. Mag 6.4
24" (5/25/14): fairly bright striking galaxy with unusual asymmetric structure, fairly large, elongated roughly 5:2 SSW-NNE, well concentrated with a very bright core containing a short bar oriented E-W. A long linear arm is attached at the west side of the core and extends south ~40". The outer western edge of this arm has a sharply defined edge and the inner (eastern) side has a low, irregular surface brightness. A short extension (arm) heads northeast from the east side of the core. As a result the core appears offset towards the north, because of the longer southern arm. Mag 6.4 HD 103928 lies 5' ESE and was placed outside the field.
17.5" (2/24/90): moderately bright, moderately large, elongated 5:2 SW-NE, large bright core. Third and largest of an excellent trio with NGC 3994 1.8' SW and NGC 3991 3.8' NW. Located 6.6' W of mag 6.4 SAO 62774.
Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 3995, along with NGC 3991, on 5 Feb 1864. His position, measured on 3 nights, is accurate.
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11 57 46.0 +14 17 50; Leo
V = 13.4; Size 0.9'x0.7'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 50°
17.5" (5/11/02): fairly faint, fairly small, slightly elongated SW-NE, 0.7'x0.5', nearly even surface brightness. A line of stars oriented SSW-NNE precedes the galaxy and two mag 13.5-14 stars follow. Located 20' ENE of a mag 6.7 star and 2.1° ESE of Beta Leonis (Denebola).
John Herschel discovered NGC 3996 = h1032 on 23 Apr 1832 and logged "vF; pL; R; has two stars sf." This was one of the last two objects discovered by Herschel at Slough (the following year he set sail for the Cape of Good Hope), though he measured the position again on the 26th and 28th of April.
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NGC 3997 = UGC 6942 = MCG +04-28-102 = CGCG 127-114 = WAS 38 = Holm 308B = LGG 260-003 = WBL 368-004 = PGC 37629
11 57 48.3 +25 16 15; Leo
V = 13.4; Size 1.7'x0.6'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 130°
24" (3/22/14): moderately bright to fairly bright, moderately large, irregular, ~1.0'x0.7'. Contains a small brighter core embedded in a curving bar oriented ~E-W. There was an impression of weak spiral arms in the halo. Bracketed by two mag 12.5-13 stars just off the east and southwest side. Brightest and fourth in a string with NGC 3993 3' SW and NGC 3987 7.7' SW.
17.5" (3/19/88): faint, small, elongated ~E-W (central bar), small bright core. Bracketed by two mag 12 stars 0.9' E and 0.9' SW of center. Member of the NGC 4007 group.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3997 = H. III-324 = h1033, along with NGC 3987 = H. III-323, on 6 Apr 1785 (sweep 393) and recorded "vF, lE. Suspected another eF, about 5' or 6' nef. I was pretty sure of it." NGC 3997 is 7.8' NE of NGC 3987, while NGC 3993 is 4.7' NE, so either could apply but NGC 3997 is slightly brighter. John Herschel measured an accurate position and described "F; vS; E pos 25° Between 2 stars, 80" dist."
The two WH numbers have been applied to different galaxies.
JH equated NGC 3997 = H. III-323 in the Slough catalogue. Dreyer gave a possible equivalence of
NGC 4015 = H. III-323 and
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NGC 3998 = UGC 6946 = MCG +09-20-046 = CGCG 269-025 = Holm 310a = LGG 241-007 = PGC 37642
11 57 56.1 +55 27 13; UMa
V = 10.7; Size 2.7'x2.2'; Surf Br = 12.5; PA = 140°
18" (4/30/11): very bright, fairly large, slightly elongated 5:4 NNW-SSE, 1.8' diameter. Sharply concentrated with a small, blazing core that increases to a very bright stellar nucleus. NGC 3990 lies 3' due W. Brightest in a group of 6 galaxies in a 30' field. NGC 3998 is a member of the UMa NED1 (LGG 241) subgroup of the M109 group or UMa cloud.
17.5" (4/6/91): very bright, fairly small, slightly elongated 4:3 NW-SE, sharply concentrated with a round very bright well-defined core, increases to stellar nucleus. Located 5.6' SSE of mag 9.2 SAO 28204. Forms a pair with NGC 3990 3.0' W. Brightest in a group including NGC 3982, NGC 3972 and NGC 3977.
William Herschel discovered NGC 3998 = H. I-229 = h1031 on 14 Apr 1789 (sweep 920), along with NGC 3990, and recorded both as "Two, the last [NGC 3998] cB or vB, R, very gradually brighter middle. The preceding [NGC 3990] pB, E, S." His offset from NGC 3990 (22 sec of RA) is accurate.
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11 57 56.5 +25 04 05; Leo
V = 15.4; Size 0.4'x0.2'; PA = 88°
24" (3/22/14): very faint, very small, round, 15"
diameter, even surface brightness.
Situated 1.4' E of a mag 12 star and 4.5' SSW of mag 8
17.5" (4/18/98): extremely faint, very small, round,
15" diameter. Requires
averted vision and can only hold steadily 2/3 of the time. A mag 12 star is 1.5' preceding. Located 4.6' SSW of mag 7.4
Lawrence Parsons, 4th Earl of Rosse, discovered NGC 3999 on
25 Apr 1878 in one of the six Birr Castle observations of the NGC 4005
cluster. Parsons placed this
nebula at 277" separation in PA 201.3° (SSW) with respect to mag 8 HD
103913 and it was labeled as Mu on the composite sketch of the cluster. At this exact offset is
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NGC 4000 = UGC 6949 = MCG +04-28-103 = CGCG 127-118 = WBL 368-006 = LGG 261-005 = PGC 37643
11 57 57.0 +25 08 39; Leo
V = 14.5; Size 1.0'x0.2'; Surf Br = 12.7; PA = 3°
24" (3/22/14): faint, fairly small, very thin edge-on, 0.5'x0.1', even surface brightness. Situated 1.7' WNW of mag 8 HD 103913. NGC 4005 is symmetrically placed on the opposite side of the star.
17.5" (3/19/88): very faint, fairly small, very elongated N-S. Located 1.6' WNW of mag 7.8 SAO 82077. Located in the center of the NGC 4007 group with NGC 4007 3.2' ESE.
Lawrence Parsons discovered NGC 4000 on 25 Apr 1878 during
one of the six Birr Castle observations of the cluster. Parsons placed this nebula at
100.5" separation in PA 283.9° (WNW) with respect to mag 8 star HD 103913
and described it as "vF, vS, lE ns, gradually brighter in the
middle." The micrometric offset points directly to
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