Harold Corwin

NGC 7638 = IC 1483 and NGC 7639 = IC 1485 are two nebulae discovered by Ainslie Common with his 36-inch reflector. They are mentioned only in his descriptive note for NGC 7630, presumably found the same night: "There are 2 similar nebulae within 30' sf No. 32 [NGC 7630]." Even though the position of NBG 7630 is coarsely given (23 15, +10 47 for 1880), its identity is fortunately clear.

We are also fortunate that the only two galaxies bright enough for Common to have easily seen "within 30' sf" are the only two candidates there are in that part of the sky. The identities are therefore very secure, even if the NGC positions (worked out by Dreyer for lack of anything better, and marked with plus-minus signs) are far off.

The poor positions led Javelle to think these two nebulae "novae" when he went over the field in the early 1890's. So, they (and a third nearby, IC 1484) received IC numbers as well.

― NGC Notes by Harold Corwin

Drawings, descriptions, and CCD photos are copyright Andrew Cooper unless otherwise noted, no usage without permission.

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