Lewis Swift discovered IC 1616 = Sw. XII-5 on 24 May 1897 (or 1898) and recorded "extremely faint, pS, close to 3 st like belt of Orion." His position is 2.5' NW of ESO 412-004 and the three stars are off the south side. Harold Corwin notes that although Swift listed 1897 as the year of the discovery in his 12th list, he includes 2 others found on 24 May 1898. So assuming they were all found on the same night it is more likely this object was found in 1898. If that's the case, this one of his last few discoveries.

600/800mm - 24" (10/6/18): at 260x; fairly faint, fairly small, slightly elongated, perhaps 45"x35" though outer portion of halo increases with averted. Broad concentration with a slightly brighter core region. This galaxy is just north of a 3' string of three mag 12 stars and it forms the northern vertex of an equilateral triangle with the two western stars in the sting. Three fainter stars lie NW and NE with the galaxy nestled inside this group of stars.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb