Williamina Fleming discovered IC 426 = HN 57, along with IC 423 and 424, on 27 Jun 1888 during a photographic survey of the M42 region at the Harvard College Observatory. Edward C. Pickering reported the discovery in the 1908 Harvard Annals publication and he is credited with the discovery in the IC. IC 423 was described as a "faint nebula about 5' in diameter."

400/500mm - 18" (11/22/03): at 115x, surprisingly large reflection nebula just following a mag 8.6 star. Appears ~7'x5' in diameter and oval E-W, though the outline is ragged. There are a number of brighter stars nearby and the nebula is situated northeast of a distinctive N-S chain of 5 stars mag 8.6-10. A distinct border runs E-W just following the mag 8.6 star. An OIII filter killed the nebula, though I didn't try either a UHC or H-beta filter. Located 1° NNE of Alnilam (middle star in Orion's belt).

Notes by Steve Gottlieb