Lewis Swift discovered IC 4946 = Sw. XII-15 on 11 Sep 1897 and logged ""eF, S, R, 3 or 4 st f, form with the neb, a circle, sp of 2 [with Sw. XII-16 = IC 4948]." There is nothing at Swift's position for either of these two entries. Harold Corwin suggests that Swift's made an 18 minute error in time (too small). Once corrected, his position falls very close to Shapley-Ames 5 (New 5) = ESO 285-007. In addition, his description fits using three or four stars close east. Using the same correction for Sw. XII-16, IC 4948 is a duplicate of NGC 6902. Swift listed the discovery date for IC 4948 as 17 Sep 1897 (6 nights later). See that number for more. Malcolm Thomson also has a comprehensive summary of the situation.

400/500mm - 18" (8/19/09): at 175x appeared fairly faint, moderately large, elongated 5:2 WSW-ENE, 1.0x'0.4', broad weak concentration. Located 2.7' W of a wide pair of mag 10/12 stars at 52" separation. Observed at only 9° elevation.

600/800mm - 30" (10/10/15 - OzSky): bright, fairly large, very elongated 7:2 WSW-ENE, sharply concentrated with a very bright, elongated core. The galaxy is surrounded by numerous stars, including a 52" pair of mag 10/11.5 stars 2.7' E, a mag 13.3 star 1.7' NE, a mag 14.1 star 1.6' WSW, a mag 14.4 star 1.2' NW, and a mag 15 star at the west-southwest edge. NGC 6902 lies 21' NNE.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb