NGC/IC Project Restoration Effort

===== NGC 6002 may be a star 1.9 arcmin south of NGC 6001. It was found by Ralph Copeland while he was examining NGC 6001 = H III 371 with Lord Rosse's 72-inch reflector. Copeland has no description, saying only "Nova" and giving a micrometric offset from WH's galaxy (PA = 197.3 deg, distance = 97.6 arcsec) -- there is nothing in his place. Nor is there anything in any of the other three quadrants around the galaxy if Copeland had made an error in his position angle measurement. A faint spindle galaxy, MCG +05-37-026, is about an arcmin northwest of Copeland's position, but it is faint enough that I wonder if he could have seen it, even with the Parsonstown Leviathan. And had he seen it, his measurement would have been PA = 217.0 deg, distance = 65.1 arcsec. I don't see any easy way to reconcile this with the numbers that Copeland has given us. The star is closer to the measured position, but it, too, is quite faint. So, this remains a bit of a mystery. Wolfgang originally chose as MCG +05-37-026 as N6002 and apparently made a 1-arcminute error in its position; coincidentally, there is a star near this place (he gives 15 47 42.0, +28 36 46, while SDSS has 15 47 41.89, +28 36 38.9, both for J2000.0). In his latest list, however, Wolfgang has the star that I suggested. I would still put my money on this star and some kind of error in Copeland's measurement, but there is no easy explanation for a measurement error. So, there are question marks on the candidate objects.