NGC/IC Project Restoration Effort

===== NGC 6680. When I went over this field in the late 1990s, I called this an interacting quadruple system. Looking at it again in February 2016, I think it is more likely to be a double system with several stars superposed. But even that is not sure. Unfortunately, the SDSS does not reach this far west, so the only high-resolution views of the galaxy available are from 2MASS. The false-color image shows the extended nuclear region of the galaxy with at least three stars superposed, and perhaps two or three knots in the arms. The galaxy is certainly distorted, but the companion -- if there is one -- is not obvious. Whatever the case, I've given positions for the five obvious objects seen in the 2MASS images.

===== NGC 6680 17.5" (8/1/89): faint, small, round, diffuse, weak concentration. An extremely faint star is possibly involved. Located within a line of six mag 14-15 stars in a very rich star field!