Harold Corwin

I've been curious about this object for many years. Herbert Howe found it with the 20-inch Clark refractor at Chamberlin Observatory in Denver while observing NGC 7720 (which see) in Abell 2634. Howe measured its position micrometrically which has pinned the object to the sky as the north- western, slightly fainter galaxy of a pair of relatively compact ellipticals. He describes it as "eF, eS, near 7720". His description of the nearby IC 5342 -- which is, by the way, not the brighter, southeastern galaxy of the pair -- is identical. That galaxy, too, was micrometrically measured by Howe, so its identification is also unambiguous.

My question is why Howe did not at least notice and mention the galaxy just to the southeast of IC 5341. I suspect the answer lies in a note that he has attached to IC 5342: "[This] looks like a star of mag. 13, blurred atmospherically. Other faint nebulae are suspected in its vicinity." IC 5341 and its companion are almost identical to IC 5342, so Howe's note could just as well apply to them as to the galaxy he put it on.

In any event, there is no mistaking the correct identification of Howe's new nebulae in the cluster, even though he did not measure a couple of other nearly identical galaxies that he glimpsed.

― IC Notes by Harold Corwin

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