OR: Not your usual observing list finished!

[Steve Gottlieb]

Last weekend I finished observing the IC I (first "Index" catalog to the NGC), which was published in 1895.  The catalog contains 1529 objects (the IC 2 begins at 1530) that were discovered after the NGC was published in 1888, but if you throw out the mistakes – single and double stars, along with other non-existent entries, you're left with about 1400 objects.  By coincidence, the night happened to be 8 years to the day after I completed the NGC.

The earlier accomplishment took place on a working sheep farm in Australia (in the southern Tablelands of New South Wales) and the last object observed was NGC 2932 using an 18" Obsession. Actually, NGC 2932 could also be classified as a non-existent object since it's just an ill-defined Milky Way star field (not a physical open cluster) in Vela, which was 15° up at the time (2:30 AM).  The NGC contains a large number of far southern objects below -60° dec, so it wasn't until my 10th observing trip to the southern hemisphere that I finally got around to NGC 2932, since I wasn't just focusing on the NGC.

This time I was at a cattle ranch north of the bay area and the last object was IC 1493 = LEDA 1458643, a faint galaxy in Pegasus (B = 16.7, V = 15.9, according to SDSS photometry).  The NGC is largely the work of William Herschel in the northern hemisphere (total of ~2415 discoveries) and John Herschel (nearly 1700 objects) in the southern hemisphere, but with contributions from a large number of observers.  The IC I is also mainly the work of two observers – French astronomer Stephane Javelle (767 discoveries) and American amateur Lewis (along with his teenage son Edward) Swift (284 discoveries).  Javelle and the Swifts account for 75% of the objects in the IC I, and except for a few photographic discoveries by Max Wolf (at Heidelberg) and E.E. Barnard (at Lick), the IC I consists of visual discoveries.

The IC 2 is a different animal -- about 65% of the objects are galaxies discovered photographically in the southern hemisphere.  There's also a big difference in visibility between NGC and IC I galaxies. Stephane Javelle observed with a high-quality 30-inch f/23 refractor at the Nice Observatory in southern France and discovered a large number of very faint and small galaxies. Many of these are missing from the major galaxy catalogs of the 1960s and 1970s (UGC, CGCG, MCG). These catalogs were based on the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS) prints of the early 1950s, and they identify galaxies (and other objects) down to roughly B magnitude of 16.0 or a bit brighter.

Although Javelle's faintest discoveries are missing original PGC numbers (PGC 1 through 73197), they are now identified with high LEDA or PGC numbers (such as LEDA 1458643). But in a number of cases the IC designation isn't recognized by SIMBAD (or MegaStar which I use to print charts), despite the fact that Javelle's reported positions are often just a few arc seconds from the center of the galaxy.  NED (NASA-IPAC Extragalactic Database) correctly identifies all of the faint IC objects, though.

 You can download an Excel file of the historic IC catalog, as well as a modern corrected version with aliases and other data, at Wolfgang Steinicke's site.  My observing notes (with lots of historical information) are posted on Adventures in Deep Space for the entire NGC (7840 objects) and all but 119 objects in the IC I. I plan to update my files shortly to cover the entire IC I.

Here’s the unimpressive 16th magnitude smudge, otherwise known as IC 1493 in Pegasus, the last IC on my list.

Steve

[Ted Hauter]

Astounding.  Sounds like to complete the list need that little amateur scope I've heard about here and I've only seen in pics in Texas.

Southern hemisphere:

1 trip long ago. My future equipment purchases will be in the form of a piece of paper with a seat number on it. 

Steve, is this new list do-able?

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[Howard Banich]

Congratulations Steve, that's such an impressive accomplishment!!! 

The dedication required to observe the entire NGC and IC 1 is remarkable not only because of the intensive observing program but for also taking such meticulous notes of every object. 

In my opinion, you are the most accomplished visual observer of our age.

Howard

--

[Steve Gottlieb]

Although a number of NGC galaxies were originally discovered using Lord Rosse’s 72-inch Leviathan, every object is within the range of a modern 18” from a Bortle 2 site.  But for the IC I project, I used my 24” for most of the fainter objects.  At least multiple trips down south are not required!

Steve

On Oct 26, 2025, at 12:52 PM, Ted Hauter <thgo...@gmail.com> wrote:

Astounding.  Sounds like to complete the list need that little amateur scope I've heard about here and I've only seen in pics in Texas.

Southern hemisphere:

1 trip long ago. My future equipment purchases will be in the form of a piece of paper with a seat number on it. 

Steve, is this new list do-able?

On Sun, Oct 26, 2025, 12:28 PM Steve Gottlieb <astrog...@gmail.com> wrote:

Last weekend I finished observing the IC I (first "Index" catalog to the NGC), which was published in 1895.  The catalog contains 1529 objects (the IC 2 begins at 1530) that were discovered after the NGC was published in 1888, but if you throw out the mistakes – single and double stars, along with other non-existent entries, you're left with about 1400 objects.  By coincidence, the night happened to be 8 years to the day after I completed the NGC.

The earlier accomplishment took place on a working sheep farm in Australia (in the southern Tablelands of New South Wales) and the last object observed was NGC 2932 using an 18" Obsession. Actually, NGC 2932 could also be classified as a non-existent object since it's just an ill-defined Milky Way star field (not a physical open cluster) in Vela, which was 15° up at the time (2:30 AM).  The NGC contains a large number of far southern objects below -60° dec, so it wasn't until my 10th observing trip to the southern hemisphere that I finally got around to NGC 2932, since I wasn't just focusing on the NGC.

This time I was at a cattle ranch north of the bay area and the last object was IC 1493 = LEDA 1458643, a faint galaxy in Pegasus (B = 16.7, V = 15.9, according to SDSS photometry).  The NGC is largely the work of William Herschel in the northern hemisphere (total of ~2415 discoveries) and John Herschel (nearly 1700 objects) in the southern hemisphere, but with contributions from a large number of observers.  The IC I is also mainly the work of two observers – French astronomer Stephane Javelle (767 discoveries) and American amateur Lewis (along with his teenage son Edward) Swift (284 discoveries).  Javelle and the Swifts account for 75% of the objects in the IC I, and except for a few photographic discoveries by Max Wolf (at Heidelberg) and E.E. Barnard (at Lick), the IC I consists of visual discoveries.

The IC 2 is a different animal -- about 65% of the objects are galaxies discovered photographically in the southern hemisphere.  There's also a big difference in visibility between NGC and IC I galaxies. Stephane Javelle observed with a high-quality 30-inch f/23 refractor at the Nice Observatory in southern France and discovered a large number of very faint and small galaxies. Many of these are missing from the major galaxy catalogs of the 1960s and 1970s (UGC, CGCG, MCG). These catalogs were based on the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS) prints of the early 1950s, and they identify galaxies (and other objects) down to roughly B magnitude of 16.0 or a bit brighter.

Although Javelle's faintest discoveries are missing original PGC numbers (PGC 1 through 73197), they are now identified with high LEDA or PGC numbers (such as LEDA 1458643). But in a number of cases the IC designation isn't recognized by SIMBAD (or MegaStar which I use to print charts), despite the fact that Javelle's reported positions are often just a few arc seconds from the center of the galaxy.  NED (NASA-IPAC Extragalactic Database) correctly identifies all of the faint IC objects, though.

 You can download an Excel file of the historic IC catalog, as well as a modern corrected version with aliases and other data, at Wolfgang Steinicke's site.  My observing notes (with lots of historical information) are posted on Adventures in Deep Space for the entire NGC (7840 objects) and all but 119 objects in the IC I. I plan to update my files shortly to cover the entire IC I.

Here’s the unimpressive 16th magnitude smudge, otherwise known as IC 1493 in Pegasus, the last IC on my list.

Steve

<IC 1493.jpg>

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<IC 1493.jpg><IC 1493.jpg>

[Richard Navarrete]

Congratulations, Steve! A great accomplishment . I agree with Howard, you’re the most accomplished visual observer of our time. 

Richard

Sent from the all new AOL app for iOS

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[Mark Wagner]

Congratulations Steve.  I feel certain there's going to be only one name next to this accomplishment!

So, moving to Coonabarabran to start the IC2?

[Pawan Singh]

Congratulations Steve! Amazing! 

Pawan

[Jamie Dillon, DDK]

It was Jeff Blanchard, eminent TACo, who years ago said, "Gottlieb! He's an astro animal!"

We're always tickled, Steve, that you're our Animal.

Hey and it's not just local fame. Terence Blanchard in the Backyard Astronomer's Guide (wonderful, useful book) in mentioning DeepMap 600, says all the objects in it were "selected by Steve Gottlieb, one of the world's most experienced deep-sky observers." Now we can certainly say the most experienced.

[Dan Smiley]

Congratulations, Steve. Another signal achievement.

You'll be glad to know that I recently bagged NGC's 1, 2 and 3.

Dan

[Ted Hauter]

It is said Terry is here in Paso.

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[Peter Santangeli]

Wow! Congrats!

Another amazing accomplishment.

On Sun, Oct 26, 2025 at 12:28 PM Steve Gottlieb <astrog...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Steve Gottlieb]

Uh-oh, NGC 4 is a nasty little xxx!!!, believe me

-- Steve

On Oct 26, 2025, at 3:40 PM, 'Dan Smiley' via The Astronomy Connection (TAC) <sf-ba...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Congratulations, Steve. Another signal achievement.

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[Richard Ozer]

Congrats! What's next?

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[Richard Navarrete]

I think Steve should now re-observe the ngc’s in reverse numerical order with a speculum mirror and Keller eyepieces, just for tha challenge . 😆

Richard

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[Steve Gottlieb]

I think I’ll rest my eyes a bit, I’m getting cross-eyed from all these faint fuzzies. 

-- Steve

On Oct 26, 2025, at 9:04 PM, Richard Ozer <rich...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Ted Hauter]

Solar!

Very bright 🌞 ☺️

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[Peter Natscher]

Congratulations, Steve!  You are special!!

On Sunday, October 26, 2025 at 12:28:14 PM UTC-7 Steve Gottlieb wrote:

[Carter Scholz]

Another amazing accomplishment! Steve is a font of knowledge and inspiration.

[Jamie Dillon, DDK]

Too many Blanchards in my note. Jeff Blanchard did coin the term Astro Animal, but of course the seriously great astronomy writer was Terence Dickinson.

Thanks for Wagner for catching that.

Terence Blanchard is famous all on his own, monster trumpet player, composer, now musical chief of SF Jazz.