UGCA 61, located 21' NE, appeared faint, moderately large, elongated ~2:1 N-S or NNW-SSE,~50"x25", very low surface brightness, probably mostly viewed the brighter central section (bar).

Lewis Swift discovered IC 1899 = Sw. XI-53 on 22 Dec 1897 and reported "eeF; S; R; 2 faint st near [south-preceding] point to it." His reported RA was 23 seconds too far west, but the identification is certain based on his comment on the two collinear stars to the southwest. The RA was corrected in Robert Baker's 1933 "Catalogue of 985 Extragalactic Nebulae in a Region in Fornax and Eridanus", based on photographs taken with the Bruce astrograph in South Africa.

600/800mm - 24" (12/6/18): at 260x; fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1 NNW-SSE, 35"x15", nearly even surface brightness. A mag 15.5 star is 45" E of center. IC 1899 is the brightest in a small group (USGC S118) with 5 members at z = .021.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb