Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2550 (Swift list II (#34), 1860 RA 08 08 03, NPD 15 33.3) is "most extremely faint, pretty small, considerably extended".
Physical Information: Based on a recessional velocity of 2270 km/sec, NGC 2550 is about 100 million light years away, in reasonable agreement with redshift-independent distance estimates of 115 to 120 million light years. Given that and its apparent size of 1.0 by 0.4 arcmins, it is about 30 thousand light years across.

Physical Information: Apparent size 1.6 by 1.4 arcmin. Just as close or closer to NGC 2551 than NGC 2550, so its sometime designation as NGC 2550A is neither useful nor significant.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2551 (Tempel list VI (#2), Swift list II (#??), 1860 RA 08 08 25, NPD 16 08.9) is "very faint, small, faint star in centre", "center" being shown as spelled by Dreyer (and in modern British English)..
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.6 by 1.0 arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2552 (= GC 1639 = WH III 711, 1860 RA 08 08 46, NPD 39 32.6) is "extremely faint, considerably large, a little extended 45°".
Physical Information: Apparent size 3.6 by 2.1 arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2553 (= GC 5412, Marth #116, 1860 RA 08 09 22, NPD 68 38) is "very faint, small, gradually a little brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.7 by 0.8 arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2554 (= GC 1640 = JH 497 = WH II 303, 1860 RA 08 10 36, NPD 66 05.9) is "faint, small, round, much brighter middle, mottled but not resolved". The second IC states (per d'Arrest) "Minute of RA is 9, not 10".
Physical Information: Apparent size of about 3.6 by 3.0 arcmin (from the images below). Vr = 4160 km/sec.

Physical Information: Vr = 3855 km/sec, about 300 km/sec less than that of NGC 2554, and within the general range of galaxy peculiar velocities, so quite possibly a companion of the larger galaxy, and perhaps the cause of that object's complex structure. Apparent size of about 1.8 by 1.4 arcmin (from the image below).

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2555 (= GC 1641 = JH 498 = WH III 256, 1860 RA 08 10 44, NPD 88 48.8) is "very faint, considerably small, irregular figure, 3 small (faint) stars involved?".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.9 by 1.4 arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2556 (= GC 5413, Marth #117, 1860 RA 08 10 49, NPD 68 36) is "very faint, very small".
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.4 by 0.2 arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2557 (= GC 5414, Stephan list VIII (#29), 1860 RA 08 10 59, NPD 68 06.9) is "extremely faint, extremely small, round, a little brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.2 by 1.0 arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2558 (= GC 1642 = JH 499 = WH III 606, 1860 RA 08 11 07, NPD 69 03.2) is "very faint, small, round, suddenly brighter middle, stellar".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.8 by 1.3 arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2559 (= GC 1643 = JH 3118, 1860 RA 08 11 21, NPD 117 02.2) is "faint, pretty large, gradually much brighter middle, among 60 stars".
Physical Information: Apparent size of about 5.6 by 2.5 arcmin (from the images below), including the fainter outer regions.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2560 (= GC 1644, d'Arrest, 1860 RA 08 11 42, NPD 68 34.8) is "faint, pretty large".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.4 by 0.3 arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2561 (Swift list VI (#31), 1860 RA 08 12 06, NPD 84 54.4) is "very faint, small, round, making a triangle with 2 stars".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.1 by 0.6 arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2562 (= GC 1645 = JH 500 = WH III 607, 1860 RA 08 12 13, NPD 68 25.9) is "very faint, considerably small, round".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.0 by 0.7 arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2563 (= GC 1646 = JH 501 = WH II 634, 1860 RA 08 12 25, NPD 68 29.7) is "considerably faint, small, round, brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.0 by 1.7 arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2564 (= GC 1647 = JH 3119, 1860 RA 08 12 28, NPD 111 22.6) is "very faint, small, round, gradually brighter middle, among many stars".
Physical Information: Apparent size of about 1.1 by 0.8 arcmin (from the images below).

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2565 (J. G. Lohse, 1860 RA 08 12 30, NPD 67 30.5) is "faint, binuclear".
Physical Information: Vr = 3580 km/sec Apparent size of about 1.7 by 0.7 arcmin (from the images below).

Physical Information: Vr 3450 km/sec, apparent size of about 0.45 by 0.2 arcmin (from the images below). Since both it and its larger neighbor have similar recessional velocities and unusual structures, they are probably a pair that has undergone some kind of interaction in the not too distant past.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2566 (= GC 1648 = WH III 288, 1860 RA 08 12 49, NPD 115 01.9) is "very faint, considerably large, extremely mottled but not resolved". The second IC adds (per Howe) "very small nebula or nebulous 11th magnitude star with 12th magnitude star close".
Physical Information: Steinicke lists an apparent size of 2.9 by 1.7 arcmin, but this must refer only to the brighter inner portion of the galaxy, as it has huge extended arms to its northwest and southeast, and strange linear extensions to the southwest.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2567 (= GC 1649 = JH 503 = JH 3120 = WH VII 64, 1860 RA 08 12 58, NPD 120 12.3) is "a cluster, pretty large, pretty rich, a little compressed, irregularly round, stars from 11th to 14th magnitude".
Physical Information: Apparent size 11 arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2568 (Barnard (c), 1860 RA 08 13 03, NPD 126 41.4) is "very faint, pretty large, faint star involved".
Physical Information: Apparent size 3.0 arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2569 (= GC 1650, d'Arrest, 1860 RA 08 13 11, NPD 68 41.8) is "very faint, considerably extended, 3 very small (faint) stars to east".
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.6 by 0.5 arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2570 (= GC 5415, Copeland (using Lord Rosse's Leviathan), 1860 RA 08 13 11, NPD 68 38.9) is "most extremely faint, large, round, northern of 2", the other being NGC 2569.
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.1 by 0.6 arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2571 (= GC 1651 = JH 502 = WH VI 39, 1860 RA 08 13 15, NPD 119 18.6) is "a cluster, very large, considerably rich, a little compressed, stars from 9th magnitude".
Physical Information: Apparent size 7.0 arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2572 (= GC 5416, Stephan list VIII (#30), 1860 RA 08 13 20, NPD 70 24.7) is "extremely faint, very small, irregular figure, 13th magnitude star attached".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.3 by 0.5 arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2573 (= GC 1652 = JH 3176, 1860 RA 08 13±, NPD 179 41.1) is "faint, small, round, gradually a little brighter middle, Polarissima Australis".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.9 by 0.7 arcmin. Due to its extreme southern position (whence its name, "Polarissima Australis") a striking example of the effect of precession on the apparent position of objects, having moved from about 8 hours RA in 1860 coordinates to about 2 hours in 2000 coordinates simply because the Pole is moving past the location of the galaxy.

Physical Information: Based on a recessional velocity of 2475 km/sec, PGC 70680 is about 115 million light years away, in reasonable agreement with the 120 million light year recessional velocity distance estimate for PGC 70533. This supports the supposition, based on their distorted shapes, that they are gravitationally interacting. Given that and its apparent size of 2.1 by 0.6 arcmin, PGC 70680 is about 70 thousand light years across.

Physical Information: Based on a recessional velocity of 2560 km/sec, PGC 70533 is about 120 million light years away, in reasonable agreement with the 115 million light year recessional velocity distance estimate for PGC 70680, which see for images. This supports the supposition, based on their distorted shapes, that they are gravitationally interacting. (There is also a redshift-independent distance estimate of 100 million light years, but whatever the correct value, the pair of galaxies are probably at the same distance.) Given that and its apparent size of 1.5 by 0.5 arcmin, PGC 70533 is about 50 thousand light years across.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2574 (Ormond Stone list II (#401), 1860 RA 08 14 09, NPD 98 31.5) is "extremely faint, pretty small, partially resolved (some stars seen), magnitude 7.5 star 5 arcmin to northeast".
Physical Information: Vr = 2865 km/sec. This is far lower than the 13685 km/sec recessional velocity of PGC 152175, so that galaxy is not a companion, but a far more distant background object. Apparent size 2.3 by 1.2 arcmin.

Physical Information: Apparent size of about 0.8 by 0.1 arcmin (from the images below). Vr = 13685 km/sec; z = 0.045648. Given the far larger recessional velocity of PGC 152175, it cannot be an actual companion of NGC 2574, but is a far more distant background object. Given the low quality of the images below, it is impossible to tell whether the galaxy is a lenticular galaxy (type S0/a?) or a spiral galaxy (type Sa?).

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2575 (Stephan list IX (#14), 1860 RA 08 14 25, NPD 65 15.6) is "extremely faint, pretty large, irregularly round, several faint stars involved".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.7 by 1.3 arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2576 (= GC 5417, Marth #118, 1860 RA 08 14 32, NPD 63 50) is "extremely faint, extremely small, stellar".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.7 by 0.3 arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2577 (= GC 1653 = WH II 259, Schultz, 1860 RA 08 14 39, NPD 67 00.2) is "faint, small, irregular figure, mottled but not resolved".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.8 by 1.1 arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2578 (= GC 1654 = JH 3121 = WH III 902, 1860 RA 08 14 49, NPD 102 52.6) is "faint, very little extended, gradually brighter middle, mottled but not resolved, among 50 stars".
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.2 by 1.3 arcmin

Physical Information:

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2579 (= GC 1655 = JH 3122, 1860 RA 08 15 35, NPD 125 46.6) is "a double star (h 4083) in a pretty small nebula, among 70 stars", (h 4083) referring to an entry in John Herschel's catalog of double stars, which was published (posthumously) in 1874.
Physical Information: Although Herschel cataloged this as a double star, it is a small group of stars surrounded by an emission nebula. In the image below the emission nebula is overexposed, and the stars are not visible; but additional images will be added to this entry, showing the stars as well as the nebula. Some images show the nebula as separate regions (particularly ones that also show the stars), but images showing the nebulae and not the stars appear to be a single nebula "separated" by clouds of obscuring material. The apparent size of about 2.5 by 1.5 arcmin for the brighter "pair" of nebulae, and about 3.3 by 3.2 arcmin for the fainter outer regions.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2580 (= GC 1656 = JH 3123, 1860 RA 08 15 44, NPD 119 52.1) is "a cluster, considerably large, pretty rich, pretty compressed, round, stars of 12th magnitude".
Physical Information: Apparent size 8.0 arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2581 (Stephan list XIII (#38), 1860 RA 08 16 29, NPD 70 57.1) is "very faint, very small, round, very faint star involved, faint star attached".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.1 by 0.8 arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2582 (= GC 1657 = JH 504 = WH III 753, 1860 RA 08 17 03, NPD 69 13.4) is "very faint, pretty small, round, gradually a little brighter middle, star 75 arcsec to west".
Physical Information: Based on a recessional velocity of 4440 km/sec, NGC 2582 is 205 million light years away, in fair agreement with a redshift-independent distance estimate of 230 million light years. Given that and its apparent size of 1.2 by 1.2 arcmin, it is about 70 thousand light years across.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2583 (Muller list II (#402), 1860 RA 08 17 07, NPD 94 31.3) is "very faint, small, round, suddenly brighter middle and nucleus, 1st of 4", the others being NGC 2584, 2585 and 2586.
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.9 by 0.9 arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2584 (Muller list II (#403), 1860 RA 08 17 19, NPD 94 30.3) is "very faint, small, round, 2nd of 4", the others being NGC 2583, 2585 and 2586.
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.2 by 0.6 arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2585 (Muller list II (#404), 1860 RA 08 17 25, NPD 94 27.3) is "very faint, small, round, 3rd of 4", the others being NGC 2583, 2584 and 2586.
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.8 by 0.8 arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2586 (Muller list II (#405), 1860 RA 08 17 31, NPD 94 29.3) is "extremely faint, pretty small, round, 4th of 4 (nebulous?)", the others being NGC 2583, 2584 and 2585. (Note: PGC 23603 is often misidentified as NGC 2586, so it is listed immediately below as a warning about the error.)
Physical Information:

Historical Misidentification: To be discussed in detail in the next iteration of this page; misidentified as NGC 2586 in RC3, and therefore often listed as such despite that certainly being an error.
Physical Information:

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2587 (= GC 1658 = JH 3124, 1860 RA 08 17 39, NPD 119 02.5) is "a cluster, pretty much compressed middle, irregular figure, stars from 9th to 13th magnitude".
Physical Information: Apparent size 10 arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2588 (= GC 1659 = JH 3125, 1860 RA 08 17 39, NPD 122 31.2) is "a cluster, faint, small, round, gradually brighter middle, stars of 15th magnitude".
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.0 arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2589 (Swift list VI (#32), 1860 RA 08 17 42, NPD 98 19.0) is "pretty faint, pretty small, a little extended". The second IC adds "Not found on 3 nights by Howe".
Physical Information:

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2590 (Stephan list IX (#15), 1860 RA 08 17 53, NPD 90 08.4) is "a faint star involved in very faint, very small, little extended nebula". (See IC 507 for a discussion of the duplicate listing. Corwin lists the equality with two question marks, indicating that he thinks it merely a possibility, and perhaps a remote one at that.)
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.2 by 0.7 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2591 (= GC 5418, d'Arrest, 1860 RA 08 18 16, NPD 11 30.3) is "faint, small, extended, a little brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 3.0 by 0.6 arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2592 (= GC 1660 = JH 505 = WH II 315, 1860 RA 08 18 43, NPD 63 34.5) is "pretty faint, small, round, very suddenly brighter middle similar to a star".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.7 by 1.4 arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2593 (= GC 5419, Marth #119, 1860 RA 08 18 49, NPD 72 10) is "extremely faint, very small".
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.9 by 0.5 arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2594 (= GC 5420, Marth #120, 1860 RA 08 18 52, NPD 63 40) is "extremely faint".
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.8 by 0.5 arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2595 (= GC 1661 = JH 506 = WH III 599, 1860 RA 08 19 34, NPD 68 03.8) is "very faint, pretty large, irregular figure, mottled but not resolved, double star 2 arcmin to southwest".
Physical Information: Apparent size 3.2 by 2.4 arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2596 (= GC 5421, Marth #121, 1860 RA 08 19 37, NPD 72 15) is "very faint, small, a little extended".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.5 by 0.6 arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2597 (= GC 5422, Marth #122, 1860 RA 08 21 49, NPD 68 02) is "extremely faint, very small".
Physical Information:

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2598 (= GC 5423, Marth #123, 1860 RA 08 21 54, NPD 68 02) is "faint, small".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.3 by 0.6 arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 2599 (= GC 1662 = JH 507 = WH III 234, 1860 RA 08 23 58, NPD 66 58.2) is "very faint, small, stellar".
Physical Information: Based on a recessional velocity of 4740 km/sec, NGC 2599 is about 220 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 2.8 by 2.5 arcmin, it is about 180 thousand light years across.