NGC/IC Project Restoration Effort

===== NGC 5098. There are two galaxies here, less than an arcminute apart, of virtually identical brightness. Which one did John Herschel see? His position falls just between the two objects, and he describes his object as "Faint, small, between two stars, the north-following of two" (the south-preceding is NGC 5096, actually a triple object, about 3.5 arcmin away). Noting the object as "between two stars" seems to point to the preceding of the pair, as the nearby stars apparently bracket this object rather better than the following one. But, the stars are far enough away that JH's comment could apply to either object. Later observations don't help much. For example, when Bigourdan measured N5098 in the 1890's, he picked up the following galaxy, noting the preceding as a neighboring "star." So, the question remains: which object is NGC 5098? For the time being, unable to provide a definitive answer, I list both objects.

===== NGC 5098 17.5" (5/23/98): Both components of this close double system (separated by 38") appeared very faint, very small, round, 20" diameter. A mag 11 star lies 2.0' S. In a group with NGC 5096 3.5' SSW and MCG +06-29-079 9' NNE.