Harold Corwin

IC 2940 does not exist. Bigourdan places it approximately 4 arcmin south- southeast of BD +22 2377, and describes it as an "Extremely faint nebulous object, suspected only. It is possible that the PA is 180deg in error." If that is the case, then the object would be north-northwest of the star. There is nothing in either position. Given that Bigourdan gives only an estimated offset, it is possible that his object is one or another of the faint stars in the area, perhaps even the double star I measured in 1974. It may also be possible that Bigourdan misidentified his comparison star.

However, neither hypothesis is likely. Bigourdan measured NGC 3743 on the same night, comparing it to the same star. So, I think it most likely that IC 2940 is one of his "fausses images."

― IC Notes by Harold Corwin

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