The second IC lists a corrected RA (per Bigourdan) of 15 59 04. NGC 6050 is a colliding pair of spiral galaxies known as Arp 272. Most references list the fainter western member of the pair as IC 1179, but as discussed at that entry, there is little doubt that the two listings refer to the pair, not the individual galaxies, and it is more appropriate to treat the two as NGC 6050A and 6050B. The pair is around 450 million light years away, in the Hercules Cluster of galaxies. Other galaxies in close proximity are NGC 6043, 6045, 6047 and 6054. Based on a recessional velocity of 9570 km/sec, NGC 6050 is about 445 million light years away, in good agreement with redshift-independent distance estimates of 420 to 550 million light years. Given that and an apparent size of 0.9 by 0.6 arcmins, NGC 6050A is about 120 thousand light years across, while the 0.6 by 0.45 arcmin size of NGC 6050B corresponds to about 80 thousand light years.

Based on a recessional velocity of 9580 km/sec, NGC 6051 is about 430 million light years distant, in reasonable agreement with redshift-independent distance estimates of 340 to 400 million light years. Given that and its apparent size of 1.3 by 0.9 arcmins, it is about 150 thousand light years across. It is the largest and presumably most massive member of a cluster of galaxies (shown scattered around it in the wide-field image below). The core of NGC 6051 is a powerful radio emitter, presumably powered by material falling into a supermassive black hole. (Note: The much more distant IC 4588 is sometimes confused with NGC 6051.)

Per Dreyer, NGC 6052 (= John Herschel's GC 5802, 1860 RA 15 59 05, NPD 69 04) is "faint, pretty large, irregularly round, (? = III 140)", the question-mark suggesting that it might be the same as William Herschel's III-140, or NGC 6064, which indeed turned out to be the case. The observations have the same declination, but a difference of two minutes of time; hence Dreyer's decision to create two listings, despite the suspicion in his mind. The object is generally listed as NGC 6052 (duplicate entries often being referred to by the prior listing number), but I give precedence to earlier discovery, so see NGC 6064 for images, and a discussion of the galaxies' properties.

Per Dreyer, NGC 6054 is "most extremely faint, pretty small, a little extended, with a faint star to the southwest". Note: There is a spiral galaxy, PGC 57073, just on the other side of that 13th-magnitude star, that is often misidentified as NGC 6054 (in fact, a Wikipedia search for NGC 6054 will show that galaxy); but since that puts the star in the wrong direction, there is no doubt that the galaxy listed here is the actual object Swift observed. NGC 6054 is a member of the Hercules Cluster of galaxies.

Based on a recessional velocity of 11190 km/sec, a straightforward calculation indicates that PGC 57073 is about 520 million light years away. However, for objects at such distances we have to take into account the expansion of the Universe during the time it took their light to reach us. Doing that shows that the galaxy was about 500 million light years away when the light by which we see it was emitted, about 510 million years ago (the difference between the two numbers being due to the expansion of the intervening space during the light-travel time). (A redshift-independent distance estimate based on the galaxy's rotational velocity is only 415 million light years; but that appears to be thought less reliable than the redshift-based distance, which would make the galaxy a member of Abell 2151.) If PGC 57073 is 500 million light years away (or was, at the time it emitted the light by which we see it), its 0.65 by 0.4 arcmin apparent size implies that it is about 100 thousand light years across. As noted above and in the NED, PGC 57073 is often misidentified as NGC 6054.

Per Dreyer, NGC 6064 (= John Herschel's GC 4161, 1860 RA 16 00 51, NPD 69 04.0) is NGC 6052, which indeed turned out to be the case. The observations have the same declination, but a difference of two minutes of time; hence Dreyer's decision to create two listings, despite the suspicion in his mind. NED lists a recessional velocity of 4720 km/sec for the brighter galaxy and 4540 km/sec for the fainter, which would presumably yield an overall value between those numbers; but the average listed for the pair is, a bit oddly, 4740 km/sec. However, the difference between the three numbers is in the range of typical peculiar (non-Hubble expansion) velocities, so any of the values can be used to estimate the pair's distance, which must be about 215 million light years. Given that and its 0.8 by 0.6 arcmin apparent size, the larger (and brighter) galaxy is about 50 thousand light years across, while the 0.7 by 0.3 arcmin apparent size of the smaller implies that it is about 45 thousand light years across. As clearly shown in the HST (partial) image of the pair (in which the smaller galaxy, being more nearly face-on, appears the brighter), the two galaxies are undergoing a violent collision which has disrupted their structures, and created a chaotic burst of stellar formation and intense radiation (among other things, the pair is a multiple radio source). Over an astronomically short but in human terms immensely long period of time, they will merge into a single galaxy.

The first IC says that NGC 6065 and 6066 "Occur also in Swift's list IX, where the P.D.'s seem to have been interchanged, though the objects are still said to be southwest and northeast (respectively)". The second IC adds "6065 and 6066 are southwest and northeast (respectively), Δα = 12 seconds (per Howe)".

The first IC says that NGC 6065 and 6066 "Occur also in Swift's list IX, where the P.D.'s seem to have been interchanged, though the objects are still said to be southwest and northeast (respectively)". The second IC adds "6065 and 6066 are southwest and northeast (respectively), Δα = 12 seconds (per Howe)".

M80 is about 28 thousand light years from Earth. It contains several hundred thousand stars, most of which are the best part of 13 billion years old. However, there are a surprisingly large number of hot blue stars ("blue stragglers"), which would normally be found only in regions where star formation has recently occurred. Until recently, the nature of blue stragglers was a mystery; but it is now believed that they are created by the collisional merger of two smaller stars. Such collisions are essentially impossible in normal regions of the galaxy, where the distances between stars are millions of times greater than their physical size; but in globular clusters, where stars are clustered thousands or tens of thousands of times more thickly, such collisions can and do occur, and M80 is home to more than twice as many blue stragglers as any other globular cluster studied to date.

Per Dreyer, NGC 6098 is "extremely faint, very small, round, 8th-magnitude star 41 seconds of time to the east, northwestern of 2", the other being NGC 6099. (Even ignoring how accurate the position might be, there is an 8th-magnitude star near the specified position, so the identification is certain.)

Per Dreyer, NGC 6099 is "extremely faint, very small, round, southeastern of 2", the other being NGC 6098 (which see for images).