Harold Corwin

NGC 3280 = NGC 3295 is a triple galaxy discovered independently by both Ainslie Common with his 36-inch reflector (this telescope eventually found its way to Lick Observatory where it was called the "Crossley Reflector" after its purchaser, Edward Crossley of Halifax, England). Though Common noted only two nebulae in his object, Francis Leavenworth found and sketched all three with the Leander McCormick refractor. He also found (on the same night, 26 Feb 1886) NGC 3296 and NGC 3297. The identities of these two are not quite as clear from his sketches, so having them near in both time and space helps us to identify them with certainty.

Unfortunately, neither Common's nor Leavenworth's positions are very good. (Leavenworth's is, as usual for the LM nebulae, too far east, this time by 2m 40s. His declination, however, is less than an arcminute off. Common's RA is 20 seconds of time off, and his declination 8 arcmin too far north.) This led to the brightest galaxy being rediscovered by Stephane Javelle and included in IC1 as IC 617, which see.

Herbert Howe finally suggested that NGC 3280 and NGC 3295 were the same object, but did not notice the identity with IC 617.

― IC Notes by Harold Corwin

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

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