Harold Corwin

NGC 7447 apparently does not exist. It is a star of 11.5 magnitude flagged as "nebulous" in the Markree Catalogue on 8 October 1855, but has not been seen again. Auwers, Tempel, and Burnham all failed to find it. Dreyer says that Burnham also noted a "F triple star a little np the place", but I do not see anything within about 10 arcmin that could be called a triple star.

The nearest star to its position is about an arcminute to the northeast. The position difference is significantly larger than Cooper's estimated errors of about 5 arcseconds in both coordinates. So, this is not likely to be the intended star even though the magnitude is approximately right.

So, aside from the possibility of a faint comet, this object remains a mystery.

A search for a comet using JPL's "Small Body Identification" web page, within about 5 degrees of the position of Cooper's "nebulous" star turned up nothing. This object still remains a mystery.

― 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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