ESO 272-011 (misidentied as IC 4441 in several sources), located 17' SW, appeared faint, small, round, 20" diameter. Located 1.6' SE of mag 8.9 HD 126996. This star is at the eastern vertex of an isosceles triangle with a mag 9.4 3.3' to it NNW and a mag 11.3 star 3.3' to its W.

DeLisle Stewart found IC 4444 = D.S. 407 on a plate taken in 1899 at Harvard's Arequipa Station. He noted "vF, vS, * M, spir or ring nebula, remarks (AN. 147, 209, Sw. XI, 171, p[recedes] 0.3m, s[outh] 6')." His remark states "observed by Frost on A 6765 as bM, magn. 13." Stewart referenced Swift's XI-171 = IC 4441, discovered on 28 Mar 1897, and described as "pF; pS; R." There is nothing at Swift's position and ESO and PGC identify ESO 272-011 as IC 4441.

But Malcolm Thomson argues (and Corwin concurs) that ESO 272-011 is too faint to have been seen by Swift and it is much more likely that IC 4441 is an earlier observation of IC 4444. In addition, ESO 272-011 has a nearby 9th mag star that Swift would have almost certainly have mentioned. See Malcolm Thomson's IC identifications.

600/800mm - 25" (4/4/19 - OzSky): at 244x; very bright, fairly large, oval 5:4 or 4:3 E-W, ~1.5'x1.2'. Sharp concentration with a small, bright core and a sharp extremely bright stellar nucleus at the center. ESO 272-011 (misidentified as IC 4441 in the ESO) lies 17' SW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb