IC 1633 is the brightest cD galaxy at the core of AGC 2877, a member of the Phoenix Supercluster. Several nearby companions were easily seen in the field; a total of 17 galaxies were logged within 16' of IC 1633 using a 25" on 10/15/17 and the 30" on 10/18/17. Still, I certainly could have viewed more if I had spent additional time.

James Dunlop discovered IC 1633 = D 437 = Sw. XI-13 on 5 Aug 1826 and recorded "an extremely faint small nebula; round, with a very minute bright point in the center." Dunlop's position is 6.6' SW of ESO 243-046, but this is a typical error and there no other brighter nearby candidates. Lewis Swift independently discovered this galaxy on 29 Sep 1897, assumed it was new, and logged Sw. XI-13 as "vF; S; R; no B* near; vF one following." His declination was 2° too far north in his 4th Lowe list, but corrected in the large AN table. Dreyer credited Swift and DeLisle Stewart (who measured the position on an Arequipa plate taken in 1899) with the discovery, but not Dunlop.

600/800mm - 25" (10/15/17 - OzSky): at 244x and 397x; very bright, very large, slightly elongated ~E-W, at least 2'.0'x1.7', sharply concentrated with a faintish halo and a very bright core that gradually increased to a stellar nucleus.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb