Per Dreyer, NGC 100 (= Swift's list III (#1), 1860 RA 00 16 48, NPD 74 17.7) is "very faint, pretty small, much extended". The second Index Catalog adds (per Howe) "is 2 arcmin long". The position precesses to RA 00 24 03.1, Dec +16 28 54, about 0.3 arcmin southeast of the center of the galaxy, but a negligible error in comparison to the size of the galaxy; so the identification is certain. Based on recessional velocity of 840 km/sec, about 38 million light years away, in reasonable agreement with redshift-independent distances of 40 to 70 million light years. Given that and apparent size of 6.2 by 0.6 arcmins (the historical NGC entry corresponds to only the brighter central region), about 65 thousand light years across. NGC 100 is an exceptionally elongated galaxy, with a very small nucleus in comparison to its overall size. Such galaxies are sometimes called "superthin" galaxies.

Per Dreyer, NGC 101 (= John Herschel's GC 50, 1860 RA 00 16 56, NPD 123 19.4) is "pretty bright, pretty large, little extended, 14th-magnitude star to east". The position precesses to RA 00 23 55.5, Dec -32 32 48, about 0.6 arcmin southeast of the center of the galaxy, but well within its outline; so the identification is certain. Based on recessional velocity of 3385 km/sec, about 150 million light years away. Given that and apparent size of 2.2 by 2.0 arcmins, about 95 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 102 (= Leavenworth's list I (#3), 1860 RA 00 17 30, NPD 104 45) is "extremely faint, very small, round". The position precesses to RA 00 24 35.9, Dec -13 58 25, about an arcmin south of the galaxy; but there is nothing else nearby, so the identification seems certain. Based on recessional velocity of 7330 km/sec, about 330 million light years away. Given that and apparent size of 1.0 by 0.9 arcmins, about 95 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 103 (= John Herschel's GC 51, 1860 RA 00 17 38, NPD 29 26.7) is "a cluster, pretty small, pretty compressed, stars from 11th to 18th magnitude". The position precesses to RA 00 25 19.8, Dec +61 19 52, an arcmin east of the listed position, but well within the boundary of the cluster, and given the difficulty of determining the center of an irregular group of stars, the identification must be considered certain. NGC 103 consists of several dozen stars scattered across a region a little over 5 arcmin across, and is well within the reach of a small telescope. George Alter's 1941 study of about three dozen stars yielded a distance of about 1500 parsecs, or about 5 thousand light years; but Johannes Hadorp's 1960 study of more than a hundred cluster members yielded a distance of nearly 3000 parsecs, or about 10 thousand light years. Depending upon which (if either) of the distance estimates is correct, the 5+ arcmin size of the cluster corresponds to 8 to 16 light years' mean diameter.

Per Dreyer, NGC 104 (= Lacaille's Nebula list I #1, 1860 RA 00 17 47, NPD 162 51.6) is "a globular cluster, very remarkable, very bright, very large, very much compressed middle". The position precesses to RA 00 24 03.4, Dec -72 05 01, about 0.5 arcmin west of the center of the cluster, which is a negligible error in comparison to its nearly half-degree diameter; so the identification is certain. Because of its brightness, NGC 104 is visible without optical aid in a dark sky, and was therefore first labeled as a starlike object, 47 Tucanae. It is the second brightest globular cluster in our galaxy, exceeded only by Omega Centauri (NGC 5139). Even at a distance of 16 to 18 thousand light years, its 120 light-year diameter is as large as the full moon, and contains several million stars. If the Sun were in the center of the cluster, our sky would be filled with brilliant stars, with more than ten thousand stars lying within the 4 light year distance to our current nearest neighbor (this ignores the fact that with so many stars packed so closely together, the passage of nearby stars would tear any planets away from the Sun, and leave those bodies wandering freely between the stars, with temperatures close to absolute zero save for when they passed near one of those stars). Based on studies of the Main Sequence turnoff point, the age of 47 Tucanae is estimated at 10 billion years, more than twice the age of the Solar System, but two to three billion years younger than the oldest globulars in our galaxy; so that despite its great age, it is actually "young" for such an object.
     NGC 104 was recently used to prove a theory of stellar mass sorting by globular clusters. More massive stars tend to settle to the center of the cluster, while less massive ones spread out over a larger region. To prove that, 130 thousand stars within the central 12 light years of the cluster were studied for seven years, using techniques that allowed movements as small as 1/100th of an HST image pixel to be detected. "Blue stragglers", Main Sequence stars located well above the cluster's turnoff point, were shown to be moving more slowly than stars of more normal mass. (The "stragglers" are believed to be produced by stellar collisions, which are virtually impossible in normal regions of stellar space, but are fairly common in the densely packed cores of globular clusters.) Aside from showing that the heavier stars were moving more slowly, the study ruled out the possibility of a supermassive black hole in the region (which would have required faster speeds for all the stars).

The recessional velocity of 36375 km/sec would imply a distance of 1.625 billion light years; but for velocities of more than about ten thousand km/sec, the expansion of the Universe during the time it took the light to reach us has to be taken into account. Doing that indicates that we see the galaxy when it was about 1.4 billion light years away, around 1.5 billion years ago; the difference being due to the extra distance the light had to cover as a result of the Universal expansion during that time.

Per Dreyer, NGC 105 (= Stephan's list XIII (#4), 1860 RA 00 18 03, NPD 77 53.4) is "very faint, small, round, very little brighter middle". The position precesses to RA 00 25 17.2, Dec +12 53 10, within 0.2 arcmin of the center of the galaxy, so the identification is certain. Based on recessional velocity of 5290 km/sec, about 240 million light years away, in good agreement with redshift-independent distance estimates of 190 to 250 million light years. Given that and apparent size of 1.1 by 0.7 arcmins, about 75 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 106 (= Leavenworth's list I (#4), 1860 RA 00 18 30, NPD 95 56) is "pretty faint, very small, round, little brighter middle". The first Index Catalog lists a corrected RA (per Ormond Stone) of 00 17 35; using that and the original NPD, the position precesses to RA 00 24 43.6, Dec -05 09 25, about 0.5 arcmin south of the galaxy; and there is nothing else nearby, so the identification is certain. Based on recessional velocity of 6060 km/sec, about 270 million light years away. Given that and apparent size of 1.3 by 0.6 arcmins, about 100 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 107 (= O Struve, 1860 RA 00 18 40, NPD 99 03) is "faint, pretty large, 7th-magnitude star 5 arcmin southeast". The position precesses to RA 00 25 47.5, Dec -08 16 26, over an arcmin northeast of the galaxy; but 7th-magnitude HD 2195, located exactly where stated, confirms the identification. Based on recessional velocity of 6290 km/sec, about 280 million light years away. Given that and apparent size of 0.6 by 0.5 arcmins, about 50 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 108 (= John Herschel's GC 53, 1860 RA 00 18 40, NPD 61 33.8) is "pretty faint, pretty large, round, pretty suddenly little brighter middle". The position precesses to RA 00 26 00.3, Dec +29 12 45, within 0.2 arcmin of the center of the galaxy; so the identification is certain. Based on recessional velocity of 4735 km/sec, about 210 million light years away. Given that and apparent size of 2.0 by 1.6 arcmins, about 120 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 109 (= d'Arrest, 1860 RA 00 18 51, NPD 68 58.3), is "very faint, small, 3 stars near". The position precesses to RA 00 26 08.5, Dec +21 48 15, more than 1.5 arcmin west of the galaxy, and about midway between NGC 109 and PGC 1622; but I can find no mention of any dispute about the identification with the brighter eastern member of the pair, so it appears to be certain. Based on recessional velocity of 5460 km/sec, about 240 million light years away. Given that and apparent size of 1.1 by 1.0 arcmins, about 80 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 110 (= John Herschel's GC 55, 1860 RA 00 19 19, NPD 19 23.0) is "a cluster, pretty round, little compressed, stars from 9th to 12th magnitude". The position precesses to RA 00 27 24.6, Dec +71 23 32, within 0.2 arcmin of the central star of the cluster, so the identification is certain. The cluster consists of less than two dozen moderately bright stars scattered across a 20 arcmin wide region centered on a 9th magnitude star (which like all too many stellar objects is mistakenly listed in the Principal Galaxy Catalog, as PGC 2742876). In the half-degree wide image below, the cluster seems lost in the multitude of Milky Way stars surrounding it; however, per Corwin, a visual examination of the region with a small telescope shows that the brighter stars in the group do stand out against the fainter background of the Milky Way, so whether a true cluster or not, it was appropriate for Herschel to list it.

Per Dreyer, NGC 111 (= Leavenworth's list II (#281), 1860 RA approximately 00 19 30, NPD 93 24.0) is "very faint, small, round, little brighter middle, 8.5 magnitude star 36 sec west and 2 arcmin north (? = 5100)". The position precesses to the value listed above, but there is nothing at the position, and there is no star in the appropriate position; and to date, no one has been able to find any object which seems to match the observation. The note "(? = 5100)" suggests that Dreyer wondered whether the object was John Herschel's GC 5100, or NGC 113, but that has no star in the appropriate position, either. Per Corwin, it is possible that a search along the declination circle may lead to a rediscovery; but for now, the object is considered nonexistent or lost.

Per Dreyer, NGC 112 (= Swift's list II (#9), RA 00 19 32, NPD +59 04.1) is "extremely faint, very small, round". The position precesses to RA 00 26 53.8, Dec +31 42 26, about 1.3 arcmin northeast of the galaxy; but there is nothing else near, so the identification seems certain. Based on recessional velocity of 6285 km/sec, about 280 million light years away, in reasonable agreement with redshift-independent distance estimates of 250 to 275 million light years. Given that and apparent size of 1.1 by 0.5 arcmins, about 90 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 113 (= Tempel's list I (#1 = list IV #1), 1860 RA 00 19 46, NPD 93 16.6) is "very faint, small, suddenly brighter middle". The position precesses to RA 00 26 55.3, Dec -02 30 04, within 0.2 arcmin of the center of the galaxy; so the identification is certain. Based on recessional velocity of 4460 km/sec, about 200 million light years away. Given that and apparent size of 1.4 by 1.0 arcmins, about 80 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 114 (= Tempel's list IV, 1860 RA 00 19 49, NPD 92 33.8) is "very faint, small, star in centre, western of 2 (the other being NGC 118)". (Note: Dreyer was not aware of Safford's observations at the time he compiled the NGC, as they were published as an appendix to an obscure paper; but he did list a number of Safford's observations in an appendix to the NGC. Unfortunately, he only listed those objects not already in the NGC, so in those cases where Safford was the discoverer of an object already credited to someone else, his prior discovery went unmentioned. Steinicke's book has a complete listing of the objects for which Safford deserves priority, whence his listing as the discoverer of this object, and its number in Safford's list.) Tempel's position precesses to RA 00 26 58.5, Dec -01 47 16, about 0.1 arcmin from the galaxy's center; so the identification is certain. Based on recessional velocity of 4160 km/sec, about 185 million light years away. Given that and apparent size of 0.9 by 0.7 arcmins, about 50 thousand light years across. It is listed as a possible group member (with NGC 124) in NED, and if at the same distance from us, is separated from that galaxy by less than a million light years.

Per Dreyer, NGC 115 (= John Herschel's GC 56, 1860 RA 00 19 51, NPD 124 27.4) is "very faint, pretty large, little extended, double star 2 arcmin northwest". The position precesses to RA 00 26 48.4, Dec -33 40 52, about 0.7 arcmin southeast of the center of the galaxy, but well within its outline, and there is a double star in the specified position, so the identification is certain. Based on recessional velocity of 1825 km/sec, about 80 million light years away, in good agreement with redshift-independent distance estimates of 77 to 130 million light years. Given that and apparent size of 1.9 by 0.9 arcmins, about 45 thousand light years across. NGC 115 is listed as a member of LGG 007, the NGC 134 Group of galaxies, which includes NGC 131, 148 and 150, PGC 2000 (erroneously identified as IC 1554) and IC 1555, and PGC 2044. Several of these are also listed as members of a group of galaxies in (or near) Sculptor with recessional velocities of about 1500 to 1800 km/sec (this is not "the" Sculptor Group, a close neighbor to our Local Group, with an average recessional velocity of less than 300 km/sec); so all LGG 007 group members are presumably members of the larger group.

Per Dreyer, NGC 116 (= Secchi (#14), 1860 RA 00 19 59, NPD 98 43.2) is "very faint". (Dreyer's listing credits Father Angelo Secchi with the discovery, but in this and more than a dozen other cases Secchi was reporting a discovery that was actually made by Brother Ferrari.) The position precesses to RA 00 27 06.5, Dec -07 56 40, but there is nothing near that position (and as a result, Steinicke lists the object as "Not Found"). Corwin points out that there are two galaxies in the region that are reasonable candidates for what Ferrari observed. The brighter one, PGC 1671, about a quarter degree due north of Ferrari's position, is generally listed as NGC 116 (for example, in LEDA, Wikisky, and NED), while the fainter, PGC 1677, about half that far slightly west of north, is not; but whether either galaxy is what Ferrari observed is impossible to determine. For instance, though Corwin fails to mention it, there is a third galaxy, PGC 169989, about 6 arcmin due west of Ferrari's position, which is just as bright as PGC 1677, and having the correct declination, seems a more likely candidate. As a result, assigning the label NGC 116 to any particular galaxy seems more a leap of faith than a matter of science. However, since the general consensus is that PGC 1671 is the most likely (even if very uncertain) candidate, this entry treats it as if it really is NGC 116, while the other candidates are treated with similar entries, immediately below. Based on its recessional velocity of 7575 km/sec, PGC 1671 is about 340 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 0.6 by 0.3 arcmins, it is about 60 thousand light years across.

As discussed above, PGC 1671 is generally considered to be Gaspare Ferrari's NGC 116; but either PGC 1677 or PGC 169989 are almost equally good candidates for that title. The main argument against one of the fainter galaxies being Ferrari's object is that if he saw one of them, he ought to have seen the brighter PGC 1671, as well; but observing objects at the limit of telescopic and sky conditions is an iffy thing, so there is no guarantee that the brighter galaxy is the correct one. As a result, it seems appropriate to give the fainter galaxies the same sort of discussion; hence this entry and the following one. Based on its recessional velocity of 7715 km/sec, PGC 1677 is about 340 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 0.4 by 0.3 arcmin, it is about 40 thousand light years across.

As discussed above, PGC 1671 is generally considered to be Gaspare Ferrari's NGC 116; but either PGC 1677 or PGC 169989 are almost equally good candidates for that title. The main argument against one of the fainter galaxies being Ferrari's object is that if he saw one of them, he ought to have seen the brighter PGC 1671, as well; but observing objects at the limit of telescopic and sky conditions is an iffy thing, so there is no guarantee that the brighter galaxy is the correct one. As a result, it seems appropriate to give the fainter galaxies the same sort of discussion; hence this entry and the preceding one. Based on its recessional velocity of 7435 km/sec, PGC 169989 is about 330 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 1.3 by 0.4 arcmin, it is about 125 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 117 (= Marth 8, 1860 RA 00 20 00, NPD 89 27) is "faint, very small". The position precesses to RA 00 27 10.6, Dec +01 19 32, about 0.5 arcmin south of the galaxy; but there is nothing else nearby, so the identification is certain. Based on recessional velocity of 5365 km/sec, about 240 million light years away. Given that and apparent size of 0.7 by 0.4 arcmins, about 50 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 118 (= Tempel's list IV, 1860 RA 00 20 07, NPD 92 33.3) is "very faint, small star in centre, eastern of 2 (the other being NGC 114)". (Note: Dreyer was not aware of Safford's observations at the time he compiled the NGC, as they were published as an appendix to an obscure paper; but he did list a number of Safford's observations in an appendix to the NGC. Unfortunately, he only listed those objects not already in the NGC, so in those cases where Safford was the discoverer of an object already credited to someone else, his prior discovery went unmentioned. Steinicke's book has a complete listing of the objects for which Safford deserves priority, whence his listing as the discoverer of this object, and its number in Safford's list.) Tempel's position precesses to RA 00 27 16.5, Dec -01 46 46, within 0.1 arcmin of the center of the galaxy, so the identification is certain. The "small star in centre" is the galaxy's exceptionally bright nucleus, which makes it a Seyfert galaxy (type Sy2). Based on recessional velocity of 11250 km/sec, about 500 million light years away. However, for such a large distance, the expansion of the Universe during the approximately half a billion year light travel time means that the galaxy was about 20 million light years closer when the light by which we see it was emitted. Given that and apparent size of 0.7 by 0.5 arcmins, it is about 100 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 119 (= John Herschel's GC 57, 1860 RA 00 20 17, NPD 147 45.4) is "pretty bright, small, round, much brighter middle". The position precesses to RA 00 26 57.3, Dec -56 58 52, within 0.2 arcmin of the center of the galaxy, so the identification is certain. Based on recessional velocity of 7430 km/sec, about 330 million light years away. Given that and apparent size of 1.0 by 1.0 arcmins, about 95 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 120 (= Tempel's list IV (#4), 1860 RA 00 20 20, NPD 92 12) is "a nebulous star". The second Index Catalog lists a corrected NPD (per Bigourdan) of 92 17; using that and the original RA, the position precesses to RA 00 27 29.6, Dec -01 30 28, about 0.4 arcmin northwest of the center of the galaxy; but close enough to its bright nucleus that the identification is certain. Based on recessional velocity of 3985 km/sec, about 175 million light years away. Given that and apparent size of 1.5 by 0.6 arcmins, about 75 thousand light years across. (In the images below, it appears that there is some extended nebulosity to the northeast, west and southwest of the galaxy; but the galaxy itself seems quite regular in shape, so that may be illusory.)

Per Dreyer, NGC 121 (= John Herschel's GC 58, 1860 RA 00 20 25, NPD 162 18.4) is "pretty bright, pretty small, little extended, very gradually brighter middle". The position precesses to RA 00 26 36.7, Dec -71 31 52, about 2.5 arcmin west of the center of the cluster, but on its western edge; so the identification is certain. The globular cluster is about 200 thousand light years distant, or about the same distance as the Small Magellanic Cloud, and is almost certainly associated with that galaxy. It is about 4 arcmin in diameter (smaller for the central condensation, larger for the outer halo), which corresponds to about 250 light years. Based on the turnoff point for its Main Sequence, it is the oldest globular cluster in the SMC, with an estimated age of about 11 billion years old, around 2 billion years younger than Milky Way globulars of similar composition.

Per Dreyer, NGC 122 (= Tempel's list IV (#4), 1860 RA 00 20 33, NPD 92 24) is one of "2 very faint nebulae (the other being NGC 123) 4 to 5 arcmin northwest of 8.5 magnitude star". The position precesses to RA 00 27 42.6, Dec -01 37 29, but there is nothing near the position save for a 15th-magnitude star which may or may not represent the object observed by Tempel. A similar situation applies to NGC 123 (which see). However, the relative position of the two measurements is similar to that for a pair of stars to the southwest of Tempel's positions, close to the region "4 to 5 arcmin northwest of 8.5 magnitude star" HD 2413; so Corwin suggests they may be what Tempel saw. In the image below, the red box represents a region 4 to 5 arcmin northwest of HD 2413, the small white boxes labeled "NGC 122" and "NGC 123" represent Tempel's positions, and the stars labeled (NGC 122) and (NGC 123) are Corwin's suggested identifications.

Per Dreyer, NGC 123 (= Tempel's list IV (#4), 1860 RA 00 20 36, NPD 92 22) is one of "2 very faint nebulae (the other being NGC 122) 4 to 5 arcmin northwest of 8.5 magnitude star". The position precesses to RA 00 27 45.6, Dec -01 35 29, but there is nothing near the position. See NGC 122 for a discussion of the situation, and an image of the region involved.

Per Dreyer, NGC 124 (= Tempel's list IV, 1860 RA 00 20 43, NPD 92 35.7) is "very faint, large, diffuse, 2 faint stars to northwest". (Note: Dreyer was not aware of Safford's observations at the time he compiled the NGC, as they were published as an appendix to an obscure paper; but he did list a number of Safford's observations in an appendix to the NGC. Unfortunately, he only listed those objects not already in the NGC, so in those cases where Safford was the discoverer of an object already credited to someone else, his prior discovery went unmentioned. Steinicke's book has a complete listing of the objects for which Safford deserves priority, whence his listing as the discoverer of this object, and its number in Safford's list.) Tempel's position precesses to RA 00 27 52.5, Dec -01 49 11, about 0.6 arcmin south of the center of the galaxy, but still within the southern border of the galaxy, and there are two faint stars to the northwest, so the identification is certain. Based on the recessional velocity of 4060 km/sec, about 180 million light years away. Given that and the apparent size of 1.4 by 0.9 arcmin, about 75 thousand light years across. It is listed as a possible group member with NGC 114, which see for a view of their relative positions, and if at the same distance from us, is separated from that galaxy by less than a million light years.

Per Dreyer, NGC 125 (= John Herschel's GC 59, 1860 RA 00 21 41, NPD 87 56.1) is "very faint, small, brighter middle, double star to southwest". The position precesses to RA 00 28 52.2, Dec +02 50 24, about 0.5 arcmin east of the center of the galaxy, but within its eastern border, and there is a double star southwest of the nucleus, so the identification is certain. Based on the recessional velocity of 5305 km/sec, about 235 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 1.7 by 1.5 arcmin, about 115 thousand light years across. NED lists it as part of a pair, apparently with NGC 128; but the recessional velocities of the two galaxies differ by more than a thousand km/sec, so NGC 125 is probably around 50 million light years further away, and not connected to the other galaxy.

Per Dreyer, NGC 126 (= 3rd Lord Rosse, 1860 RA 00 21 54, NPD 87 58.1) is "very faint, small, little extended". The position precesses to RA 00 29 05.2, Dec +02 48 23, about 0.8 arcmin southwest of the galaxy, but there is nothing else nearby, so the identification is reasonably 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 the recessional velocity of 4045 km/sec, about 180 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 0.9 by 0.4 arcmin, about 45 thousand light years across. Its direction and recessional velocity indicate that it is a member of the NGC 128 Group of galaxies, which also includes NGC 127 and 130.

Per Dreyer, NGC 127 (1860 RA 00 22 01, NPD 87 54.1) is "very faint, very small, round, west of h25 (= NGC 128)". The position precesses to RA 00 29 12.2, Dec +02 52 23, dead on the galaxy's nucleus, and it is west of "h25", 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 the recessional velocity of 4095 km/sec, about 180 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 0.8 by 0.6 arcmin, about 45 thousand light years across. Its direction and recessional velocity indicate that it is a member of the NGC 128 Group of galaxies, which also includes NGC 126 and 130. (See NGC 128 for images.)

Per Dreyer, NGC 128 (= John Herschel's GC 62, 1860 RA 00 22 05, NPD 87 54.6) is "pretty bright, pretty small, little extended 2° east of North, brighter middle". The position precesses to RA 00 29 16.2, Dec +02 51 53, only 0.3 arcmin from the center of the galaxy, so the identification is certain. Based on the recessional velocity of 4240 km/sec, about 190 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 3.0 by 0.9 arcmin, about 165 thousand light years across. The largest member and namesake of the NGC 128 Group of galaxies (which also includes NGC 126, 127 and 130, NGC 128 has a strange "peanut"-shaped halo, presumably caused by gravitational effects due to its companions; however, the large nucleus appears relatively normal, and it is possible that more detailed study of the galaxy may considerably change interpretations of its structure.

Per Dreyer, NGC 129 (= John Herschel's GC 63, 1860 RA 00 22 06, NPD 30 33.1) is "a cluster, very large, pretty round, little compressed, stars from 9th to 13th magnitude". The position precesses to RA 00 29 52.7, Dec +60 13 23, about 1.5 arcmin northwest of the "standard" position for the cluster; but for a loosely scattered collection of stars more than 20 arcmin across, the "position" is a matter of opinion (for that reason, the value listed above has been rounded off to whole arcmins), and the "error" in the position insignificant; so the identification is certain. The cluster appears to consist of approximately three dozen 9th to 11th magnitude stars scattered across a region approximately 30 light years across, 5000 to 5500 light years distant, with an estimated age (based on the luminosity of hot, bright upper Main Sequence stars) of about 75 to 80 million years, making it one of the youngest clusters in our vicinity. Note: Fainter middle and lower Main Sequence stars are difficult to distinguish from the numerous background stars, so the actual number of cluster members is considerably larger than the number of easily observable brighter stars. Which stars are cluster members can be estimated from the radial velocity of the cluster, which is approaching us at about 40 km/sec; stars with very different radial velocities are probably not cluster members. The difficulty of doing the spectroscopic observations required rapidly increases with decreasing brightness, but as of a 1992 study, nearly a hundred stars had been confirmed as cluster members. Despite its relatively young age, a few cluster members have already ended their Main Sequence lives and swelled up to become supergiants. One of those is the Cepheid variable DL Cassiopeiae, a spectroscopic binary with an orbital period of a little less than two years. The presence of a Cepheid variable in such a "close" cluster provides a useful tool for determining the approximate distance of the cluster, and as more accurate determinations become possible, for calibrating the Cepheid variable distance scale; as a result, NGC 129 is one of the four or five clusters most often studied for such purposes (the nearest being the Pleiades).

Per Dreyer, NGC 130 (= 3rd Lord Rosse, 1860 RA 00 22 09, NPD 87 54.1) is "very faint, very small, round, east of h25 (= NGC 128)". The position precesses to RA 00 29 20.2, Dec +02 52 23, about 0.4 arcmin northeast of the center of the galaxy, a little beyond its northeastern extension; but even if the position were off a bit more, its position directly to the east of "h25" would make the identification 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 the recessional velocity of 4435 km/sec, about 200 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 0.7 by 0.4 arcmin, about 40 thousand light years across. Despite its slightly greater recessional velocity, there is little doubt that it is a member of the NGC 128 Group of galaxies, which also includes NGC 126 and 127. (See NGC 128 for images.)

Per Dreyer, NGC 131 (= John Herschel's GC 65, 1860 RA 00 22 43, NPD 124 02.0) is "faint, pretty large, pretty much extended, very gradually brighter middle, preceding of 2 (the other being NGC 134)". NGC 131 is listed as a member of LGG 007, the NGC 134 Group of galaxies, which includes NGC 115, 148 and 150, PGC 2000 (erroneously identified as IC 1554) and IC 1555, and PGC 2044. Several of these are also listed as members of a group of galaxies in (or near) Sculptor with recessional velocities of about 1500 to 1800 km/sec (this is not "the" Sculptor Group, a close neighbor to our Local Group, with an average recessional velocity of less than 300 km/sec); so all LGG 007 group members are presumably members of the larger group.

Per Dreyer, NGC 132 (= John Herschel's GC 66, 1860 RA 00 23 00, NPD 88 40.9) is "pretty faint, considerably large, round, very gradually little brighter middle, mottled but not resolved".

Per Dreyer, NGC 133 (= d'Arrest, 1860 RA 00 23 21, NPD 27 25.7) is "a cluster, pretty large, stars from 10th magnitude downward, double star involved".

Per Dreyer, NGC 134 (= John Herschel's GC 67, 1860 RA 00 23 28, NPD 124 01.8) is "very bright, large, very much extended 47°, pretty suddenly brighter middle, following of 2 (the other being NGC 131), 10th magnitude star 45 arcsec to northwest". (Although Dreyer failed to credit Dunlop with the discovery, his observations were published before Herschel started his southern hemisphere observations.) NGC 134 is the namesake of LGG 007, the NGC 134 Group of galaxies, which includes NGC 115, 131, 148 and 150, PGC 2000 (erroneously identified as IC 1554) and IC 1555, and PGC 2044. Several of these are also listed as members of a group of galaxies in (or near) Sculptor with recessional velocities of about 1500 to 1800 km/sec (this is not "the" Sculptor Group, a close neighbor to our Local Group, with an average recessional velocity of less than 300 km/sec); so all LGG 007 group members are presumably members of the larger group.

Per Dreyer, NGC 135 (= Leavenworth's list I (#5), 1860 RA 00 23 30, NPD 104 08.0) is "very faint, very small, round". The original RA was off by more than a minute, which led to Javelle's rediscovery being given a separate listing (see IC 26 for a discussion of Javelle's observation). Per Corwin, an observation a few years later by Herbert Howe and a sketch of the region by Leavenworth showed that the two objects were actually the same. The second Index Catalog listed (per Howe) a corrected RA of 00 24 41, but (per Corwin?) failed to note Howe's declination, equivalent to an NPD of 104 06.6. Using the updated RA and original NPD, the position precesses to RA 00 31 45.6, Dec -13 21 35, about 1.5 arcmin south of the galaxy; but using Howe's declination as well, the position precesses to RA 00 31 46.3, Dec -13 20 10, within 0.1 arcmin of the correct position, so the identity of the two listings and the identification of the object are certain. Based on recessional velocity of 7190 km/sec, about 320 million light years away. Given that and apparent size of 0.7 by 0.7 arcmin, about 65 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 136 (= John Herschel's GC 68, 1860 RA 00 23 41, NPD 29 15.8) is "a cluster, very faint, small, extremely compressed".

Per Dreyer, NGC 137 (= John Herschel's GC 69, 1860 RA 00 23 43, NPD 80 34.0) is "faint, irregular figure, little brighter middle".

Per Dreyer, NGC 138 (= Marth 9, 1860 RA 00 23 47, NPD 85 37) is "faint, extremely small, little brighter middle".

Per Dreyer, NGC 139 (= Marth 10, 1860 RA 00 23 54, NPD 85 39) is "extremely faint, small".

Per Dreyer, NGC 140 (= Stephan's list XII, 1860 RA 00 23 57, NPD 59 58.9) is "very faint, small, round, gradually brighter middle". (Note: Dreyer was not aware of Safford's observations at the time he compiled the NGC, as they were published as an appendix to an obscure paper; but he did list a number of Safford's observations in an appendix to the NGC. Unfortunately, he only listed those objects not already in the NGC, so in those cases where Safford was the discoverer of an object already credited to someone else, his prior discovery went unmentioned. Steinicke's book has a complete listing of the objects for which Safford deserves priority, whence his listing as the discoverer of this object, and its number in Safford's list.) Stephan's position precesses to RA ??

Per Dreyer, NGC 141 (= Marth 11, 1860 RA 00 24 06, NPD 85 35) is "very faint, very small, irregularly round". Based on a recessional velocity of 11760 km/sec, a straightforward calculation indicates that NGC 141 is about 525 million light years away. However, for such a distant galaxy we must take the expansion of the Universe during its light's half billion light year journey into account. Doing so shows that the galaxy was about 20 million light years closer at the time the light by which we see it was emitted. Given that and its apparent size of 0.75 by 0.5 arcmin, it is about 110 thousand light years across.

Per Dreyer, NGC 142 (= Muller's list II (#282), 1860 RA 00 24 30, NPD 113 24.0) is "extremely faint, small, little extended, 1st of 3 (the others being NGC 143 and 144)". The second Index Catalog lists a corrected RA (per Howe) of 00 24 08, and adds "the faintest" to the description.

Per Dreyer, NGC 143 (= Muller's list II (#283), 1860 RA 00 24 30, NPD 113 21.0) is "extremely faint, small, much extended, 2nd of 3 (the others being NGC 142 and 144)". The second Index Catalog lists a corrected RA (per Howe) of 00 24 16.

Per Dreyer, NGC 144 (= Muller's list II (#284), 1860 RA 00 24 30, NPD 113 26.0) is "extremely faint, very small, round, 3rd of 3 (the others being NGC 142 and 143)". The second Index Catalog lists a corrected RA (per Howe) of 00 24 20, and the additional note "the brightest, pretty small".

Per Dreyer, NGC 145 (= John Herschel's GC 70, 1860 RA 00 24 38, NPD 95 55.6) is "faint, pretty large, very little extended, very gradually brighter middle, 8th or 9th magnitude star 5 arcmin east". Based on recessional velocity of 4140 km/sec, about 185 million light years away. However, redshift-independent distance estimates are only 40 to 50 million light years, so there is a serious error somewhere. If the lower distance is correct, the apparent size of 1.8 by 1.3 arcmin would imply a size of 25 thousand light years, while the larger distance would require a size of nearly 100 thousand light years. Given the generally diffuse nature of the galaxy, the smaller values may be more reasonable, but the prominent arms suggest the larger values may be more accurate; so the issue cannot be settled without further observations.

Per Dreyer, NGC 146 (= John Herschel's GC 71, 1860 RA 00 25 13, NPD 27 29.3) is "a cluster, pretty large, little compressed, stars from 11th to 12th magnitude, double star".

Per Dreyer, NGC 147 (= John Herschel's GC 72, 1860 RA 00 25 32, NPD 42 16.5) is "very faint, very large, irregularly round, gradually suddenly much brighter middle equivalent to 11th magnitude star". NGC 147 is a dwarf spheroidal member of the Andromeda Galaxy group. As such, its peculiar (non-Hubble-expansion) velocity is too large for its radial velocity to yield any estimate of its distance (in fact, it is approaching us at 195 km/sec, which would yield a negative distance if used without thinking). Redshift-independent distance estimates range from 1.9 to 2.5 million light years, primarily based on the galaxy's Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram (individual stars are easily resolved with current technology). Given its apparent separation from the Andromeda Galaxy (about 7.5 degrees), it is probably about 300 thousand light years from its much larger neighbor (about the same distance as between the Milky Way and the Large Magellanic Cloud). Its apparent size of 13.2 by 7.8 arcmin corresponds to about 8 thousand light years along its largest dimension.

Per Dreyer, NGC 148 (= John Herschel's GC 73, 1860 RA 00 26 22, NPD 122 34.0) is "very bright, small, little extended 90°, suddenly much brighter middle equivalent to 11th magnitude star". Based on recessional velocity of 1515 km/sec, about 70 million light years away, in reasonable agreement with a redshift-independent distance estimate of 60 million light years. Given that and its apparent size of 2.0 by 0.8 arcmins, about 40 thousand light years across. NGC 148 is listed as a member of LGG 007, the NGC 134 Group of galaxies, which includes NGC 115, 131 and 150, PGC 2000 (erroneously identified as IC 1554) and IC 1555, and PGC 2044. Several of these are also listed as members of a group of galaxies in (or near) Sculptor with recessional velocities of about 1500 to 1800 km/sec (this is not "the" Sculptor Group, a close neighbor to our Local Group, with an average recessional velocity of less than 300 km/sec); so all LGG 007 group members are presumably members of the larger group.

Per Dreyer, NGC 149 (= Stephan's list XIII (#5), 1860 RA 00 26 26, NPD 60 02.9) is "very faint, very small, round, gradually brighter middle equivalent to 14th magnitude star, 12th magnitude star to southwest". Based on recessional velocity of 4845 km/sec, about 220 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 1.2 by 0.7 arcmins, about 75 thousand light years across.