E.E. Barnard discovered IC 919 around June 1892 with the 36" Lick refractor. Burnham originally noticed a group of small and faint nebulae and Barnard estimated the positions (given in AN 2998) adding several discoveries (not specified), bringing the total to 18. IC 919 is the only object Barnard described as "considerably bright", all others are "faint" or "very faint". Harold Corwin suggests IC 919 may be CGCG 271-059 = PGC 48570 (4' due south of Barnard's position), although Wolfgang Steinicke identifies IC 919 as LEDA 2507977, which is only 1.3' NNE of Barnard's position.

600/800mm - 24" (6/21/20): at 375x; faint, very small, round, 15" diameter, low even surface brightness.

900/1200mm - 48" (5 /9/18): bright, fairly small, slightly elongated, ~18" diameter, very small bright nucleus. Forms a very close pair with LEDA 2505000 = 2MASX J13424588+5531077, just 18" SW. The companion was very faint, extremely small, round ~6" diameter. IC 918 = LEDA 2505332 is 1.5' WNW.

The close pair are on the southwest side of AGC 1783 in a group of 18 ICs discovered visually with the 36" Lick refractor, though lie in the foreground at 460 million l.y.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb