NGC/IC Project Restoration Effort

===== NGC 6655 was found in June 1855 by Winnecke with the 9-inch Fraunhofer refractor in Berlin and has not been seen since. Auwers lists it as the 42nd new object in the appendix to his 1862 reduction of WH's nebulae where he gives Winnecke's description. This boils down to pF, S, E, 10 x 3 arcsec. The position is 18 25 43, -06 06 for 1830. There is nothing there. (Auwers also notes that he could not find the object.) However, 20 seconds of time west, and 3.3 arcmin north is a 14th magnitude double star with a separation of about 11 arcsec. This may be the object that Winnecke saw.

===== NGC 6655 18" (7/1/11): The identification of NGC 6655 is uncertain but may apply to an 11" pair of mag 13.3 stars that was easily resolved at 175x. A third star of similar magnitude lies 35" NNW. Located in a rich Milky Way field near the edge of the Great Rift and 17' E of mag 6.4 HD 171149. Although there is no non-stellar object near Winnecke's position, his description: pF, S, E, 10"x3", would apply to this pair and the double might appear nebulous in poor seeing.