Harold Corwin

IC 295 is probably lost. It is supposed to be in a group of nebulae found by Swift near Algol (see IC 290 for more). In particular, it was found on 11 September 1888, the same night as I292-294. But there is no trace of it in the area, and Barnard found only five galaxies here when he went over it later, while Swift claims a total of seven (N1213, I290, and I292-296).

While IC 296 is clearly shown to be identical with IC 294 = IC 1889 (see the discussion under IC 294 where the impetus for reexamining this field is explained) by considering the systematic offset in Swift's positions on 11 September, IC 295 remains stubbornly evasive. It could be the star about 1.3 arcminutes wnw of IC 294 -- its position relative to IC 294 is about right -- or perhaps the fainter asterism the same distance wsw of IC 294. In that case, however, the relative declinations would be incorrect. I've put both of these possibilities into the position table.

The possibility also remains that it is identical to IC 294. This is still the least likely solution as Swift claims to have seen both galaxies on the same night.

Finally, I should mention that I may have reversed the identifications of IC 294 and IC 295. I've made IC 295 the western object while Swift made it the eastern of the two. On the other hand, with IC 296 -- which Swift put east of IC 295 though on a different night -- being clearly identical to IC 294 ... well, the situation for IC 295 remains pretty murky.

― IC Notes by Harold Corwin

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