NGC/IC Project Restoration Effort

===== NGC 1724. This was found by George Rumker on 30 Apr 1864, and was subsequently measured by him on three additional nights in May of that year. Rumker's position, re-reduced with respect to the Tycho-2 position for his comparison star, coincides exactly with an asterism of three pretty bright stars (Brian Skiff identifies them in the main table). These are clearly resolved on the 48-inch Schmidt plates; but in Rumker's 4-inch, F15 refractor, they would probably have been resolvable on just the best nights. This is borne out by his descriptions (translated by me with the help of an on-line translation program): 30 April, "Several stars near one another, mixed with nebulosity"; 1 May, "Only nebulosity vaguely seen"; 3 May, "Several small stars near one another, the brightest preceding"; 6 May, "Three small stars (mixed with nebulosity?)". There is no nebulosity involved with the three stars on the sky survey plates, but there are fainter stars in the neighborhood that may have yeilded that impression through Rumker's small refractor.

===== NGC 1724 18" (3/19/04): this asterism consists of only a trio of mag 11-12 stars at separations of 21" and 29". Located 5' WSW of mag 8.4 HD 32212. A few other mag 8-9 stars are in the same field. Also a chain of 5 mag 12-13 stars is located ~7' E and is certainly more distinctive than this trio of stars.