NGC/IC Project Restoration Effort

===== NGC 4472 = M 49 is the brightest galaxy in the Virgo Cluster. See NGC 4471, NGC 4486, NGC 4548, and NGC 4579.

===== NGC 4472 48" (5/15/12): at 488x, M49 appeared extremely bright and large, slightly elongated N-S, ~6'x5', fades gradually so the outer extent may be larger. Well concentrated with an intense core that is sharply concentrated with a brilliant nucleus. A mag 12 star is superimposed 45" E of center. A number of galaxies (see below) surround the halo, including NGC 4467 4' W and NGC 4465 5.9' WNW. A mag 13 star is 4.6' W of center (close to NGC 4467). VCC 1199, 4.5' NW of center, appeared faint, very small, round, 10" diameter. VCC 1203, 4.6' SSW of center, is fairly faint, fairly small, round, 12" diameter, slightly brighter core. VCC 1203 is misidentified as NGC 4471 in SIMBAD. The NGC number probably applies to one of the two faint stars ~2' SE. UGC 7636, 5.4' SE of center, is very faint, fairly small, elongated patch, ~0.5'x0.3' N-S, with a very low surface brightness and no concentration. This blue, dwarf irregular companion (Arp called it a "fragment") has been disrupted by M49 with H I gas stripped in a tidal tail. 17.5" (4/18/87): very bright, fairly large, sharp concentration to a compact very bright nucleus, large halo slightly elongated ~N-S fades at the edges. A mag 12 star is superimposed at the east edge 0.8' from center. A faint galaxy NGC 4467 lies 5' W.