NGC/IC Project Restoration Effort

===== NGC 7254 = NGC 7256. Herbert Howe made this identification in the late 1890s. Here is what he had to say in his note in MN 63, 356, 1898: These are identical. The place of 7254 is wrong in right ascension, and the place of 7256 is wrong in declination. I could find only one nebular object in this vicinity. Two of the three faint stars involved, and mentioned by Marth were seen; the third was suspected. The northern most one was brightest, and was of mag. 14. The 11 mag. star which Muller saw 4.'5 preceding the nebula was also observed. The position is 22h 17m 06s, -22d 14.'5 [for 1900.0]." It remains for me to say that Marth's description reads "3 ** involved in F nebulosity", and that he observed the object at least twice -- his date, 1864.74, is marked "ver", meaning that he verified the nebula. So, his declination, exactly 10 arcmin south of the true position, must be a simple transcription error. His notation "3 **" is interpreted by both Dreyer and Howe to mean "three stars" rather than "three double stars". Given the two stars superposed on the galaxy and its nucleus, this makes sense. Muller's RA is about 30 seconds of time too far west, but his measurement of the companion star ("P[A] 280d, [distance] 4.'5") is accurate and pins down the object that he saw.

===== NGC 7254 See observing notes for NGC 7256.