Per Dreyer, NGC 50 (= Secchi (#13), 1860 RA 00 07 39, NPD 98 08.8) is "very faint". The position precesses to RA 00 14 48.0, Dec -07 22 05, about 1.8 arcmin southeast of the center of the galaxy, but not far from its southeastern border; so the identification is certain. Based on its recessional velocity of 5700 km/sec, NGC 50 is about 250 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 2.3 by 1.7 arcmins, it is about 170 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 51 (= Swift's list II (#8), 1860 RA 00 07 47, NPD 42 31.6) is "pretty faint, pretty small, round, brighter middle". The second Index Catalog lists a corrected 1860 RA (per Bigourdan and Barnard) of 00 07 15; using that and the original NPD, the position precesses to RA 00 14 35.1, Dec +48 15 07, only 0.2 arcmin from the center of the galaxy, so the identification is certain. Based on a recessional velocity of 5350 km/sec, NGC 51 is about 240 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 1.3 by 1.0 arcmins, it is about 90 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 52 (= John Herschel's GC 25, 1860 RA 00 07 48, NPD 72 14.3) is "very faint, small, extended". The second Index Catalog lists a corrected RA (per Bigourdan) of 00 07 28; using that and the original NPD, the position precesses to RA 00 14 41.4, Dec +18 32 25, nearly 2 arcmin south of the galaxy, but there is nothing else nearby, and the elongated appearance of its brighter portion confirms the identification. Based on a recessional velocity of 5390 km/sec, NGC 52 is about 240 million light years ago, in reasonable agreement with redshift-independent distance estimates of about 280 million light years. Given that and its apparent size of 2.1 by 0.4 arcmins, it is about 150 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 53 (= John Herschel's GC 26, 1860 RA 00 07 53, NPD 151 06.2) is "very faint, small, extended". The position precesses to RA 00 14 46.8, Dec -60 19 28, nearly an arcmin east of the galaxy's center, but still within its outline; so the identification is certain. Based on a recessional velocity of 4570 km/sec, NGC 53 is about 200 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 2.0 by 1.4 arcmins, it is about 120 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 54 (= Tempel, Swift's list V, 1860 RA 00 07 58, NPD 97 54.3) is "very faint, pretty small, round, GC 5092 (= NGC 50) to southwest". The position precesses to RA 00 15 07.0, Dec -07 07 35, about an arcmin south of the galaxy, but there is nothing else nearby, and as shown in the widefield image for NGC 58 (also = NGC 47), the much brighter NGC 50 is to the southwest; so the identification is certain. Based on a recessional velocity of 5335 km/sec, NGC 54 is about 240 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 1.3 by 0.4 arcmins, it is about 90 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 55 (= Dunlop 507, 1860 RA 00 08 00, NPD 129 59.6) is "very bright, very large, very much extended, triple nucleus". The position precesses to RA 00 15 02.5, Dec -39 12 53, well within the central part of the galaxy, so the identification is certain. An apparently irregular galaxy, but more likely to be an edge-on barred spiral. The recessional velocity of NGC 55 is only 130 km/sec, too small to be a useful indicator of distance. Redshift-independent distance estimates range from 5 to 7.5 million light years. Given that and its apparent size of 32 by 6 arcmins, it is 50 to 70 thousand light years across. NGC 55 and NGC 300 are only a million or so light years apart, and are thought be a gravitationally bound pair. Until recently, they were considered members of the Sculptor group of galaxies, but are now known to be foreground galaxies.

Per Dreyer, NGC 56 (= John Herschel's GC 28, 1860 RA 00 08 09, NPD 78 20.0) is "extremely faint, extremely large, difficult". The position precesses to the value shown above, but there is nothing in the area or anywhere near it. Per Corwin, the other objects observed by Herschel in the same "sweep" of the sky are where he recorded their positions, so it is unlikely that the position is in error. Instead, it is most likely that he saw an internal (telescope) reflection due to the glare of Algenib (γ Pegasi), which lies a little over two degrees to the north.

Per Dreyer, NGC 57 (= John Herschel's GC 29, 1860 RA 00 08 18, NPD 73 26.9) is "faint, small, round, suddenly brighter middle". The position precesses to RA 00 15 31.2, Dec +17 19 49, within 0.1 arcmin of the center of the galaxy, so the identification is certain. Based on a recessional velocity of 5440 km/sec, NGC 57 is about 240 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 2.2 by 1.9 arcmins, it is about 150 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 58 (= Swift's list V (#3), 1860 RA 00 08 28, NPD 97 56.8) is "very faint, pretty small, round". The position precesses to RA 00 15 37.0, Dec -07 10 05, which is 67 seconds of time east of the galaxy, so Dreyer had no reason to suspect that it was the same as Tempel's object. Per Corwin, this is one of three nebulae observed by Swift (and probably also by Tempel, though his observations were sent directly to Dreyer and never published, so there is no way to know for sure), NGC 50, 54, and "58". However, there is nothing at Swift's recorded position, and Herbert Howe, unable to find the object in two tries, suggested that NGC 58 was actually Tempel's NGC 47 early enough to be included in Dreyer's second Index Catalog corrections to the NGC; so the identity has been considered reasonably certain for more than a century.

Per Dreyer, NGC 59 (= O Stone's list I (#1), 1860 RA 00 08 30, NPD 112 13) is "very faint, pretty small, irregularly round, gradually brighter middle". The position precesses to RA 00 15 36.3, Dec -21 26 17, nearly 3 arcmin to the east of the galaxy, but per Corwin, Stone made a sketch of the area which shows the surrounding stars; so the identification is certain. The recessional velocity of NGC 59 is only 362 km/sec, too small in comparison to peculiar (non-Hubble expansion) velocities to guarantee a reasonable estimate of its distance. Despite that, a recessional velocity based distance estimate of 16 million light years is in good agreement with redshift-independent distances of 14 to 17 million light years. Given that and its apparent size of 2.6 by 1.3 arcmins, it is about 12 thousand light years across, making it a dwarf galaxy. It is probably a member of the Sculptor Group of galaxies, a loosely bound cluster near the south galactic pole. In the closeup below, the curved "object" to the right is probably a flaw in the image, as it does not show up in photometric surveys of the galaxy; but since it appears to be lit more brightly on the side toward the galaxy's core, it may be a real condensation of some sort. If so, it would be rare, as such galaxies usually contain little gas and dust.

Per Dreyer, NGC 60 (= Stephan's list XII (#4), 1860 RA 00 08 48, NPD 91 04.9) is "extremely faint, very small, round, little brighter middle". The position precesses to RA 00 15 58.2, Dec -00 18 11, which is dead center on the galaxy, so the identification is certain. Based on its recessional velocity of 11,825 km/sec, NGC 60 is about 530 million light years away. However, at such a distance we need to start correcting for the expansion of space during the time it took the galaxy's light to reach us. In this case the galaxy was about 20 million light years closer, or about 510 million light years away when the light by which we see it was emitted, about 530 million years ago. Given the uncertainty of any distance estimate this is an insignificant error and can be safely ignored; but for much larger recessional velocities (such as that of NGC 77) the error is more significant, and must be taken into account. Given NGC 60's estimated distance, its apparent size of 1.1 by 0.9 arcmins suggests that it is about 170 thousand light years across. The distorted shape of NGC 60 is typical of galaxies gravitationally interacting with other galaxies. In this case, the most likely culprit is PGC 3111352, a 30 thousand light year wide elliptical galaxy on the eastern edge of the larger galaxy.

Per Dreyer, NGC 61 (= John Herschel's GC 30, 1860 RA 00 09 15, NPD 97 05.8) is "very faint, small, irregular round, pretty suddenly very little brighter middle". The position precesses to RA 00 16 24.0, Dec -06 19 06, which is right on 61B, so the identification is certain. Based on a recessional velocity of 7945 km/sec, NGC 61A is about 355 million light years away, while NGC 61B's recessional velocity of 8150 km/sec corresponds to 365 million light years' distance. The distorted shape of 61A suggests that the galaxies are gravitationally interacting, and if so they are probably closer to each other than their recessional distances imply, at around 360 million light years for the pair. Assuming this is the case, NGC 61A's apparent size of 1.1 by 0.7 arcmins implies that is is about 115 thousand light years across, while 61B's apparent size of 0.8 by 0.4 arcmins corresponds to about 85 thousand light years across. Note: In an uncharacteristic (presumably typographical) error, Steinicke lists the northwestern galaxy as brighter, and hence as 61A; but the southeastern is the brighter, and is therefore listed as A in this entry.

Per Dreyer, NGC 62 (= Stephan's list XIII (#2), Otto Struve's list I, 1860 RA 00 09 57, NPD 104 15.9) is "faint, very small, round, gradually little brighter middle". The position precesses to RA 00 17 04.5, Dec -13 29 12, about 0.2 arcmin west of the center of the galaxy, but well within its outline, so the identification is certain. Based on a recessional velocity of 6465 km/sec, NGC 62 is about 290 million light years distant. Given that and its apparent size of 1.0 by 0.8 arcmins, it is about 85 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 63 (= d'Arrest, 1860 RA 00 10 33, NPD 79 19.7) is "pretty faint, small, round, suddenly brighter middle". The position precesses to RA 00 17 45.5, Dec +11 26 59, dead center on the galaxy, so the identification is certain. Based on a recessional velocity of 1160 km/sec, NGC 63 is about 50 million light years distant, in reasonable agreement with redshift-independent distance estimates of 60 to 62 million light years. Given that and its apparent size of 1.7 by 1.1 arcmins, it is 25 to 30 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 64 (= Swift's list V (#4), 1860 RA 00 10 38, NPD 97 34.6) is "most extremely faint, very small, round, very difficult". The second Index Catalog lists a corrected RA (per Howe) of 00 10 22; using that and the original NPD, the position precesses to RA 00 17 30.8, Dec -06 47 54, which is 1.6 arcmin north of the galaxy; but there is nothing else nearby, so the identification is certain. Based on a recessional velocity of 7310 km/sec, NGC 64 is about 330 million light years distant, in good agreement with redshift-independent distance estimates of 275 to 335 million light years. Given that and its apparent size of 1.5 by 1.1 arcmins, it is about 150 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 65 (= Muller's list II (#278), 1860 RA 00 10 53, NPD 113 40.0) is "extremely faint, very small, round, gradually bright middle, preceding of 2". The second Index Catalog lists a corrected RA (per Howe) of 00 11 54; using that and the original NPD, the position precesses to RA 00 18 58.9, Dec -22 53 20, which is about 0.5 arcmin south of the center of the galaxy, but not far from its southern border; and it is the western (preceding) of two (the other being NGC 66), so the identification is certain. Based on a recessional velocity of 7295 km/sec, NGC 65 is about 325 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 2.4 by 1.7 arcmins, it is about 225 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 66 (= Muller's list II (#279), 1860 RA 00 10 59, NPD 113 44.0) is "extremely faint, pretty small, extended 225° east of north (that is, toward the southwest), 9th magnitude star 1 arcmin north, following of 2". The second Index Catalog lists a corrected RA (per Howe) of 00 12 00; using that and the original NPD, the position precesses to RA 00 19 04.8, Dec -22 57 20, more than an arcmin south of the galaxy; but there is a 9th-magnitude star just over an arcmin to the north, and it is the eastern (following) of two (the other being NGC 65), so the identification is certain. Based on a recessional velocity of 7605 km/sec, NGC 66 is about 340 million light years away, in reasonable agreement with redshift-independent distance estimates of 280 to 320 million light years. Given that and its apparent size of 1.2 by 0.5 arcmins, it is about 110 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 67 (= 3rd Lord Rosse, 1860 RA 00 10 59, NPD 60 43.0) is "extremely faint, very small, round". The position precesses to RA 00 18 16.1, Dec +30 03 41, a little over 1 arcmin to the northeast of NGC 67, but only 0.4 arcmin southeast of NGC 67A, and therefore less than half as far from that galaxy as from NGC 67. Perhaps that is why most catalogs list NGC 67A as NGC 67, and vice-versa; but per Corwin, Rosse published a sketch of the region which clearly shows that the object in question was the westernmost of the galaxies in the area. All the galaxies in the Group seem to have a similar error in position, so at least their relative positions are correct; but the sketch alone would be enough to make the identification with PGC 138159 certain. However, since NGC 67 and 67A have been so thoroughly confused, the only way to be certain of observing the correct one is to use the galaxies' PGC numbers or coordinates. (Note: Though Dreyer credits the report of the discovery to William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, he includes a note in his introduction that most of Rosse's nebular discoveries were actually made by his assistants, George Stoney, Bindon Stoney, and R. J. Mitchell.) NGC 67 has a recessional velocity of 6215 km/sec, and an apparent size of 0.5 by 0.35 arcmins. Based on that, it is about 275 million light years away, and 40 thousand light years across. It is also a member of the NGC 68 Group of galaxies.

Between NGC 67 and NGC 68 is a compact galaxy, PGC 1185, which was recorded by Mitchell as a star. For the reasons discussed at NGC 67, Mitchell's "star" is often (incorrectly) listed as NGC 67, and the actual NGC 67 as 67A. Given that confusion, the galaxies' PGC numbers or coordinates should be used in searching databases, to ensure reliable results. Based on a recessional velocity of 6645 km/sec, PGC 1185 is about 295 million light years away, indicating that it is also a member of the NGC 68 Group of galaxies. Given that and an apparent size of 0.4 by 0.35 arcmins, it is about 35 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 68 (= John Herschel's GC 31, 1860 RA 00 11 05, NPD 60 42.2) is "extremely faint, large, 3 or 4 stars plus nebulosity". The position precesses to RA 00 18 22.1, Dec +30 04 29, which is an arcmin east of the galaxy, and closer to NGC 70 than any other. Per Corwin, Herschel probably saw the merged light of NGC 68, 70 and 71, which would have put his measurement in the middle of the three (where it is). By the time of the NGC, the 3rd Lord Rosse had published the sketch discussed at NGC 67, and measurements which (like Herschel's) put each of the galaxies about an arcmin east of the correct position. Given that, the relative positions (and corresponding order-of-RA listings) were well established by the time the NGC was published, and PGC 1187 is definitely the galaxy which should be listed as NGC 68. Based on a recessional velocity of 5735 km/sec, NGC 68 is about 250 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 1.2 by 1.1 arcmins, it is about 90 thousand light years across. The galaxy is the namesake of the 250 to 320 million light year distant NGC 68 Group, which includes NGC 67 (and 67A), 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 72A and 74.

Per Dreyer, NGC 69 (= 3rd Lord Rosse, 1860 RA 00 11 07, NPD 60 44.1) is "extremely faint, very small, round". The position precesses to RA 00 18 24.1, Dec +30 02 35, which is almost an arcmin east of the galaxy, but as in the case of NGC 67 through 74, the sketch published by Lord Rosse and the relative position confirms the identification. (Note: Though Dreyer credits the report of the discovery to William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, he includes a note in his introduction that most of Rosse's nebular discoveries were actually made by his assistants, George Stoney, Bindon Stoney, and R. J. Mitchell.) Based on a recessional velocity of 6680 km/sec, NGC 69 is about 300 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 0.9 by 0.8 arcmins, it is about 80 thousand light years across. It is also a member of the NGC 68 Group of galaxies.

Per Dreyer, NGC 70 (= 3rd Lord Rosse, 1860 RA 00 11 10, NPD 60 41.8) is "extremely faint, very small, round, between 2 faint stars". The position precesses to RA 00 18 27.2, Dec +30 04 53, which is (like Mitchell's other observations in this area) a little over an arcmin east of the galaxy; but as in the case of NGC 67 through 74, the sketch published by Lord Rosse (and in this case, the two stars above and below the galaxy) confirms the identification. (Note: Though Dreyer credits the report of the discovery to William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, he includes a note in his introduction that most of Rosse's nebular discoveries were actually made by his assistants, George Stoney, Bindon Stoney, and R. J. Mitchell.) A member of the NGC 68 Group of galaxies. Based on a recessional velocity of 7165 km/sec, NGC 70 is about 320 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 2.0 by 1.6 arcmins, it is about 180 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 71 (= 3rd Lord Rosse, 1860 RA 00 11 11, NPD 60 42.7) is "extremely faint, very small, round". The position precesses to RA 00 18 28.2, Dec +30 03 59, which is (like Mitchell's other observations in this area) a little over an arcmin east of the galaxy; but as in the case of NGC 67 through 74, the sketch published by Lord Rosse confirms the identification. (Note: Though Dreyer credits the report of the discovery to William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, he includes a note in his introduction that most of Rosse's nebular discoveries were actually made by his assistants, George Stoney, Bindon Stoney, and R. J. Mitchell.) Based on a recessional velocity of 6695 km/sec, NGC 71 is about 300 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 1.5 by 1.2 arcmins, it is about 130 thousand light years across. It is also a member of the NGC 68 Group of galaxies.

Per Dreyer, NGC 72 (= 3rd Lord Rosse, 1860 RA 00 11 16, NPD 60 44.1) is "extremely faint, very small, round". The position precesses to RA 00 18 33.2, Dec +30 02 35, which is (like Mitchell's other observations in this area) a little over an arcmin east of the galaxy; but as in the case of NGC 67 through 74, the sketch published by Lord Rosse confirms the identification. (Note: Though Dreyer credits the report of the discovery to William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, he includes a note in his introduction that most of Rosse's nebular discoveries were actually made by his assistants, George Stoney, Bindon Stoney, and R. J. Mitchell.) Based on a recessional velocity of 7260 km/sec, it is about 320 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 1.3 by 1.0 arcmins, it is about 120 thousand light years across. It is also a member of the NGC 68 Group of galaxies.

Based on a recessional velocity of 6715 km/sec, it is about 300 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 0.3 by 0.3 arcmins, it is about 25 thousand light years across. It is also a member of the NGC 68 Group of galaxies.

Per Dreyer, NGC 73 (= Swift's list V (#5), 1860 RA 00 11 36, NPD 106 05.5) is "very faint, small, round, extremely faint double star close to the east". The position precesses to RA 00 18 42.8, Dec -15 18 49, which is more than an arcmin to the northeast of the center of the galaxy, but near its northeastern outline; and there is nothing else nearby, so the identification is certain. Based on a recessional velocity of 7760 km/sec, it is about 350 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 1.6 by 1.1 arcmins, it is about 160 thousand light years across. An interesting feature of the galaxy is an extended arm sweeping around its western side (on its right in the images below, which have been digitally enhanced to more clearly show the arm, at the cost of making them more grainy and mottled).

Per Dreyer, NGC 74 (= 3rd Lord Rosse, 1860 RA 00 11 42, NPD 60 43.7) is "extremely faint, small, extended, last of 6". The position precesses to RA 00 18 59.4, Dec +30 02 58, which is (like Mitchell's other observations in this area) well to the northeast of the galaxy; but as in the case of NGC 67 through 72, the sketch published by Lord Rosse confirms the identification. (Note: Though Dreyer credits the report of the discovery to William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, he includes a note in his introduction that most of Rosse's nebular discoveries were actually made by his assistants, George Stoney, Bindon Stoney, and R. J. Mitchell.) Based on a recessional velocity of 7090 km/sec, NGC 74 is about 315 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 0.7 by 0.3 arcmins, it is about 65 thousand light years across. It is also a member of the NGC 68 Group of galaxies.

Per Dreyer, NGC 75 (= Swift's list V (#6), 1860 RA 00 12 08, NPD 84 18.9) is "very faint, very small, round". The position precesses to RA 00 19 19.6, Dec +06 27 46, which is over 2 arcmin northwest of the galaxy; but despite the (unfortunately typical) error in Swift's measurement, there appears to be no suggestion that the identification might be wrong, perhaps because there is nothing else nearby. Based on its recessional velocity of 5800 km/sec, NGC 75 is about 260 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 1.4 by 1.4 arcmins, it is about 100 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 76 (= Bigourdan (list I, #1), 1860 RA 00 12 27, NPD 60 51) is "very faint, small, brighter middle". The position precesses to RA 00 19 44.7, Dec +29 55 40, which is nearly 2 arcmin east of the galaxy; but there is nothing else nearby, and the identification is considered certain. Based on a recessional velocity of 7325 km/sec, NGC 76 is about 325 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 1.0 by 0.9 arcmins, it is about 95 thousand light years across. It may be a distant companion of PGC 1266, which is in nearly the same direction, their difference in recessional velocity not being large enough to be certain that they aren't at the same distance.

Per Dreyer, NGC 77 (= Muller's list II (#280), 1860 RA 00 12 30, NPD 113 18.0) is "extremely faint, very small, irregular figure (perhaps associated with a foreground star), with a 9th magnitude star 3 arcmin to the west". The second Index Catalog lists a corrected RA (per Howe) of 00 12 57; using that and the original NPD, the position precesses to RA 00 20 02.0, Dec -22 31 20, about 0.6 arcmin north of the galaxy; but even if the position were worse, the 11th magnitude star 3 arcmin to the west would confirm the identification. Based on its recessional velocity of 18900 km/sec, a simple calculation would suggest that NGC 77 is about 840 million light years away. However, for such a large distance we have to adjust for the expansion of the Universe during the time it took the light to reach us. In this case, the galaxy was about 60 million light years closer than stated above, or about 780 million light years away when the light by which we see it began its more than 800 million year long journey. Given that and its apparent size of 1.6 by 1.4 by arcmins, it is about 360 thousand light years across (several times the size and undoubtedly many times the mass of our galaxy).

Per Dreyer, NGC 78 (= Pechüle, 1860 RA 00 13 17, NPD 89 55.3) is "very faint, small, round". Its position precesses to RA 00 20 27.4, Dec +00 51 21, which is 1.4 arcmin north of the northeastern member of the pair. Per Corwin, the northeastern member (NGC 78B) is generally assumed to be the one Pechüle observed, because it is a little brighter, and closer to the listed position; but the original paper has yet to be found, so whether Pechüle observed one or the other, or the combined light of both galaxies remains to be seen; in any event, there is no question that the pair is in some way what he observed. Based on its recessional velocity of 5080 km/sec, NGC 78A is about 225 million light years away, while NGC 78B's recessional velocity of 5525 km/sec implies a distance of 245 million light years. The two galaxies might actually be that far apart, or they may be closer to each other and simply have peculiar (non-Hubble-expansion) velocities which imply different distances. In the absence of any obvious gravitational interaction between them, this entry assumes that they really are at different distances. In that case, NGC 78A's apparent size of 1.15 by 0.65 arcmins would make it about 75 thousand light years across, while NGC 78B's apparent size of 1.1 by 0.8 arcmins would make it about 80 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 79 (= Bigourdan (list I, #2), 1860 RA 00 13 45, NPD 68 12.5) is "very faint, small, very little brighter middle". The position precesses to RA 00 21 01.1, Dec +22 34 09, about 0.4 arcmin west of the center of the galaxy, but near its outline, so the identification appears certain. Based on a recessional velocity of 5485 km/sec, NGC 79 is about 240 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 0.3 by 0.3 arcmins, it is about 20 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 80 (= John Herschel's GC 38, 1860 RA 00 13 55, NPD 68 25.2) is "faint, small, round, pretty suddenly brighter middle". The position precesses to RA 00 21 11.1, Dec +22 21 26, dead on the galaxy, so the identification is certain. Based on a recessional velocity of 5700 km/sec, NGC 80 is about 250 million light years away, in reasonable agreement with redshift-independent distance estimates of 280 to 330 million light years. Given that and its apparent size of 1.8 by 1.7 arcmins, it is about 140 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 81 (= Copeland using Lord Rosse's 6-foot telescope, 1860 RA 00 13 57, NPD 68 23.7) is "most extremely faint, southwest of h17 (= NGC 83)". The position precesses to RA 00 21 13.1, Dec +22 22 56, within 0.1 arcmin of the center of the galaxy, and it is southwest of NGC 83, so the identification is certain. Based on a recessional velocity of 6130 km/sec, NGC 81 is about 270 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 0.3 by 0.2 arcmin, it is about 25 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 82 (= Bigourdan (list I, #3), 1860 RA 00 14 02, NPD 68 18.9) is "extremely faint, stellar". The position precesses to RA 00 21 18.1, Dec +22 27 44, within 0.1 arcmin of the truly stellar object, so the identification is certain. The star is northwest of NGC 83, which see for an image.

Per Dreyer, NGC 83 (= John Herschel's GC 39, 1860 RA 00 14 05, NPD 68 20.6) is "extended, binuclear, 3 bright stars near". The position precesses to RA 00 21 21.1, Dec +22 26 02, about 0.3 arcmin west of the center of the galaxy, but within its outline, and there are three 11th-magnitude stars just to the east, so the identification is certain. Based on a recessional velocity of 6225 km/sec, NGC 83 is about 280 million light years away, in reasonable agreement with redshift-independent distance estimates of 285 to 330 million light years. Given that and its apparent size of 1.5 by 1.5 arcmins, it is about 130 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 84 (= Bigourdan (list I, #4), 1860 RA 00 14 05, NPD 68 09.7) is "extremely faint, star plus nebulosity". The position precesses to RA 00 21 21.2, Dec +22 36 56, within 0.2 arcmin of the star, so although the "plus nebulosity" was wrong, the identification is certain. (Note: Wikisky misidentifies PGC 1384 as NGC 84; so use the coordinates to see the correct object).

Per Dreyer, NGC 85 (= Copeland using Lord Rosse's 6-foot telescope, 1860 RA 00 14 08, NPD 68 15.8) is "most extremely faint, considerably large, round". The position precesses to RA 00 21 24.2, Dec +22 30 50, about 0.3 arcmin northwest of the center of the galaxy, but within its outline, so the identification is certain. Due to an error in the MCG, NGC 85 is often referred to as NGC 85A, and the galaxy to its east as NGC 85B. The second galaxy is more properly referred to as IC 1546, as shown in the images below. Based on recessional velocity measurements of 5515 and 6205 km/sec, NGC 85 is 245 to 275 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 0.45 by 0.45 arcmins, it is about 30 to 35 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 86 (= Bigourdan (list I, #5), 1860 RA 00 14 11, NPD 68 13.1) is "extremely faint, very small, little brighter middle". The position precesses to RA 00 21 27.2, Dec +22 33 32, about 0.4 arcmin west of the galaxy, but there is nothing else nearby, so the identification is certain. Based on a recessional velocity of 5590 km/sec, NGC 86 is about 250 million light years away, in reasonable agreement with redshift-independent distance estimates of 275 to 300 million light years. Given that and its apparent size of 0.55 by 0.2 arcmins, it is about 45 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 87 (= John Herschel's GC 43, 1860 RA 00 14 19, NPD 139 24.7) is "extremely faint, small, round, gradually brighter middle, 1st of 4 (the others being NGC 88, 89 and 92)". The position precesses to RA 00 21 12.6, Dec -48 38 03, about 0.5 arcmin southwest of the center of the galaxy, but not far from its outline; and in any event, the "1st of 4" would make the identification certain. NGC 87 is a member of Robert's Quartet, which consists of four galaxies (NGC 87, 88, 89 and 92) crammed into a 150 thousand light year wide region. Based on its recessional velocity of 3490 km/sec, NGC 87 is about 150 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 0.8 by 0.7 arcmins, it is about 35 thousand light years across. It might be presumed that the four galaxies in the Quartet should be named after their discoverer, John Herschel, particularly since he described each as "nth of 4"; but the name represents an in-joke perpetrated by the authors of a recent catalog of southern galaxies. Various groups of galaxies in the catalog are named after one of the authors, his wife, her brother (the Robert in question), and so on. It just shows that astronomers are people, and as prone to silly pranks as anyone else.

Per Dreyer, NGC 88 (= John Herschel's GC 44, 1860 RA 00 14 28, NPD 139 25.2) is "extremely faint, very small, round, 2nd of 4 (the others being NGC 87, 89 and 92)". The position precesses to RA 21 21.5, Dec -48 38 33, about 0.2 arcmin southwest of the center of the galaxy, and within its outline; and in any event, the "2nd of 4" would make the identification certain. NGC 88 is a member of Robert's Quartet, which consists of four galaxies (NGC 87, 88, 89 and 92) crammed into a 150 thousand light year wide region. Based on its recessional velocity of 3433 km/sec, NGC 88 is about 150 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 0.8 by 0.5 arcmins, it about 35 thousand light years across. It might be presumed that the four galaxies in the Quartet should be named after their discoverer, John Herschel, particularly since he described each as "nth of 4"; but the name represents an in-joke perpetrated by the authors of a recent catalog of southern galaxies. Various groups of galaxies in the catalog are named after one of the authors, his wife, her brother (the Robert in question), and so on. It just shows that astronomers are people, and as prone to silly pranks as anyone else.

Per Dreyer, NGC 89 (= John Herschel's GC 45, 1860 RA 00 14 30, NPD 139 26.6) is "very faint, small, round, gradually brighter middle, 3rd of 4 (the others being NGC 87, 88 and 92)". The position precesses to RA 00 21 23.4, Dec -48 39 57, about 0.2 arcmin west of the center of the galaxy, but well within its outline; and in any event, the "3rd of 4" would make the identification certain. NGC 89 is a member of Robert's Quartet, which consists of four galaxies (NGC 87, 88, 89 and 92) crammed into a 150 thousand light year wide region. Based on its recessional velocity of 3320 km/sec, NGC 89 is about 150 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 1.2 by 0.5 arcmins, it is about 50 thousand light years across. (A second recessional velocity measurement of 3825 km/sec suggests a slightly larger distance and size of 170 million light years and 60 thousand light years, respectively, but the 150 million light years' distance more closely agrees with that of the other members of the Quartet.) It might be presumed that the four galaxies in the Quartet should be named after their discoverer, John Herschel, particularly since he described each as "nth of 4"; but the name represents an in-joke perpetrated by the authors of a recent catalog of southern galaxies. Various groups of galaxies in the catalog are named after one of the authors, his wife, her brother (the Robert in question), and so on. It just shows that astronomers are people, and as prone to silly pranks as anyone else.

Per Dreyer, NGC 90 (= 3rd Lord Rosse, Schultz, 1860 RA 00 14 35, NPD 68 21.2) is "very faint, little extended." Mitchell's position precesses to RA 00 21 51.3, Dec +22 25 26, nearly 1.5 arcmin north of the galaxy, but far closer to this remarkable object than any other; but per Corwin, Herman Schultz' measurement is dead on, so the identification is certain. (Note: Though Dreyer credits the report of the discovery to William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, he includes a note in his introduction that most of Rosse's nebular discoveries were actually made by his assistants, George Stoney, Bindon Stoney, and R. J. Mitchell.) Based on a recessional velocity of 5355 km/sec, NGC 90 is about 250 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 1.9 by 0.8 arcmins, it is about 140 thousand light years across; but its extended arms cover nearly 250 thousand light years. The Arp 65 listing refers to a spiral galaxy with a small high brightness companion; what that companion is, is not clear. The most obvious candidate is the small object at the end of the western arm of NGC 90. A Wikisky search for NGC 90 or 91 shows NGC 90, but labels it as NGC 91; see the galaxy's wide-field image (below) for a correctly labeled view.

Per Dreyer, NGC 91 (= 3rd Lord Rosse, d'Arrest, 1860 RA 00 14 36, NPD 68 22.9) is "very faint, very small, 13th magnitude star to southwest." Though Dreyer credits the report of the discovery to William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, he includes a note in his introduction that most of Rosse's nebular discoveries were actually made by his assistants, George Stoney, Bindon Stoney, and in this case, R. J. Mitchell, who is listed as the discoverer in the Revised NGC/IC. However, Mitchell's position (the one listed by Dreyer) precesses to RA 00 21 52.3, Dec +22 23 44, about 1.6 arcmin north of the star, and much closer to NGC 90 than the star. Most tellingly, the star "to the southwest" is southwest of the galaxy, not the star; so it seems most likely that Mitchell's observation of "NGC 91" was simply a repeat of his observation of NGC 90. Per Corwin, neither Mitchell nor Heinrich d'Arrest made measurements or notes corresponding to the star, whereas Schultz' position was dead on; so the confusion with NGC 90 should be laid at Mitchell and d'Arrest's feet, the note "13th magnitude star to the southwest" placed with that galaxy, and the correct identification of NGC 91 as the star should be attributed to Shultz alone (hence his listing as the discoverer in this entry). A Wikisky search for NGC 91 or 90 shows NGC 90, but labels it as NGC 91; see NGC 90's wide-field image (above) for a correctly labeled view.

Per Dreyer, NGC 92 (= John Herschel's GC 46, 1860 RA 00 14 37, NPD 139 24.4) is "faint, small, round, gradually brighter middle, 4th of 4 (the others being NGC 87, 88 and 89)". The position precesses to RA 00 21 30.3, Dec -48 37 46, about 0.4 arcmin southwest of the center of the galaxy, but within its outline; and in any event, the "4th of 4" makes the identification certain. NGC 92 is a member of Robert's Quartet, which consists of four galaxies (NGC 87, 88, 89 and 92) crammed into a 150 thousand light year wide region. Based on its recessional velocity of 3220 km/sec, NGC 92 is about 145 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 1.9 by 0.9 arcmins, it is about 80 thousand light years across. Its distorted appearance (particularly the 100 thousand light year long arm extending to the lower left) is probably due to gravitational interactions with its neighbors. It might be presumed that the four galaxies in the Quartet should be named after their discoverer, John Herschel, particularly since he described each as "nth of 4"; but the name represents an in-joke perpetrated by the authors of a recent catalog of southern galaxies. Various groups of galaxies in the catalog are named after one of the authors, his wife, her brother (the Robert in question), and so on. It just shows that astronomers are people, and as prone to silly pranks as anyone else.

Per Dreyer, NGC 93 (= 3rd Lord Rosse, d'Arrest, 1860 RA 00 14 47, NPD 68 22.1) is "very faint, very small". The position precesses to RA 00 22 03.4, Dec +22 24 32, dead on the galaxy, so the identification is certain. (Note: Though Dreyer credits the report of the discovery to William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, he includes a note in his introduction that most of Rosse's nebular discoveries were actually made by his assistants, George Stoney, Bindon Stoney, and R. J. Mitchell.) Based on a recessional velocity of 5380 km/sec, NGC 93 is about 240 million light years away, in good agreement with redshift-independent distance estimates of 240 to 360 million light years. Given that and its apparent size of 1.4 by 0.6 arcmins, it is about 100 thousand light years in diameter.

Per Dreyer, NGC 94 (= Bigourdan (list I, #6), 1860 RA 00 14 58, NPD 68 16.9) is "extremely faint, very small". The position precesses to RA 00 22 14.5, Dec +22 29 43, about 0.7 arcmin north of the galaxy, but it is easily the brightest object in the region, so the identification seems certain. (Note: A Wikisky search for NGC 94 shows the correct object, but it isn't labeled as either an NGC or PGC object.) Based on a recessional velocity of 5875 km/sec, NGC 94 is about 260 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 0.9 by 0.6 arcmins, it is about 70 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 95 (= John Herschel's GC 47, 1860 RA 00 15 01, NPD 80 17.8) is "faint, pretty large, round, gradually brighter middle". The position precesses to RA 00 22 14.0, Dec +10 28 49, about 0.7 arcmin south of the galaxy, but there is nothing else nearby, so the identification is certain. Based on a recessional velocity of 5380 km/sec, NGC 95 is about 240 million light years away, in fair agreement with a redshift-independent distance estimate of 190 million light years. Given that and its apparent size of 1.9 by 1.1 arcmins, it is about 120 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 96 (= Bigourdan (list I, #7), 1860 RA 00 15 02, NPD 68 13.0) is "very faint, small, very little brighter middle". The position precesses to RA 00 22 18.5, Dec +22 33 37, about 0.8 arcmin north of the galaxy; but there is nothing else nearby, so the identification seems certain. Based on a recessional velocity of 6185 km/sec, NGC 96 is about 275 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 0.5 by 0.5 arcmins, it is about 40 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 97 (= John Herschel's GC 48, 1860 RA 00 15 11, NPD 61 01.5) is "faint, very small, round, gradually brighter middle". The position precesses to RA 00 22 29.9, Dec +29 45 07, about 0.4 arcmin north of the center of the galaxy, but within its outline; so the identification is certain. Based on a recessional velocity of 4765 km/sec, NGC 97 is about 210 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 1.5 by 1.3 arcmins, it is about 90 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 98 (= John Herschel's GC 49, 1860 RA 00 15 56, NPD 136 03.2), "very faint, pretty small, round, brighter middle, mottled but not resolved".  The  position  precesses  to  RA 00 22 50.1,  Dec -45 16 35, about 0.5 arcmin south of the center of the galaxy, but within its outline; so the identification is certain. Based on a recessional velocity of 6175 km/sec, NGC 98 is about 275 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 2.2 by 2 arcmins, it is about 175 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 99 (= Stephan's list XIII (#3), 1860 RA 00 16 45, NPD 75 00.4) is "very faint, pretty large, round, gradually brighter middle". The position precesses to RA 00 23 59.9, Dec +15 46 12, within 0.1 arcmin of the center of the galaxy, so the identification is certain. Based on a recessional velocity of 5310 km/sec, NGC 99 is about 235 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 1.1 by 0.9 arcmins, it is about 75 thousand light years across.