NGC/IC Project Restoration Effort

===== NGC 6438. The canonical way of identifying the objects in this fascinating interacting pair is to make "NGC 6438" the northwestern lenticular, while the southeastern distorted spiral is called "NGC 6438A". Given JH's description "pB, R, vgbM", I can see how this view has come about. But the spiral is certainly bright and large enough to have figured in the visibility of JH's object. I'm going to suggest that it, too, is a part of the NGC object, and I have treated it that way in the position table. You, of course, may use whichever identification suits your work. JH's position, by the way, is no help to us. Being as far south as it is, the RA was difficult to determine. JH writes, "RA rudely taken, and may be very erroneous." Curiously, he did not mark it uncertain, and it is listed in his catalogues (and in the NGC) with no uncertainty or notes. In spite of all this, his RA is only out by about 4 arcminutes.

===== NGC 6438 24" (4/11/08 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): at 260x, the appearance of this interacting pair was very strange! NGC 6438 appeared moderately bright, small, round, 0.4' diameter. NGC 6438A (a disrupted peculiar galaxy), is attached on the east side and appeared as a faint, diffuse glow, elongated SW-NE, ~0.8'x0.5'. This system is the second closest NGC galaxy to the south celestial pole. Located 4' NE of a mag 9.5 star (an uncatalogued double star) and 16' NE of mag 8 HD 160820. NGC 6438A appears highly disrupted on the DSS, with two extensions or arms (this may be two different interacting galaxies).