Harold Corwin

This is probably the object picked up 95 years after Swift's observation as IRAS F12477-0505. Swift's position is not too bad, and his description ("eeeF, pS, R; nearly bet 2 sts east and west; 2nd of 3; NGC 4705 and NGC 4718 near") is appropriate -- except for the "nearly bet 2 sts" phrase. This does not match the IRAS galaxy (a peculiar double or triple system) which has a star only to the east. It does, however, fit NGC 4718 perfectly. Is it possible that Swift confused his observing notes between the two objects?

So, is it possible that his "nova" is actually NGC 4718 itself? If so, the mystery phrase becomes "2nd of 3" as NGC 4718 is the third of the trio, not the second.

Occam's Razor: take the IRAS galaxy, but include the identity with NGC 4718 as a questionable possibility.

A quick note on the IRAS galaxy: The PanSTARRS image shows a patchy irregular galaxy with a very bright blue, almost stellar object on its western edge. This reminds me of NGC 1569 (which see) with its (at least) two bright clusters, though the object in this IRAS candidate for IC 825 is considerably brighter relative to the galaxy than are the objects in NGC 1569. It is, of course, possibly a foreground star, but is very blue and the Galactic latitude is high enough that blue stars are rare in the area. NED has no specific information on this galaxy, so it is a candidate for a detailed study.

― IC Notes by Harold Corwin

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