Lewis Swift discovered NGC 2242 = Sw. VI-27 on 24 Nov 1886 with the 16" refractor at Warner Observatory. This is the last planetary nebula, by discovery date, to be included in the NGC. RNGC and CGCG (204-005) misclassify NGC 2242 as a galaxy although the RNGC new description reads "R, HISB, STEL, PLN??", so it questioned if it was perhaps a PN instead.

In 1985, spectroscopic investigations by Richard Shaw and William Bidelman revealed that NGC 2242 is a previously uncatalogued planetary nebula (independently shown to be a planetary by Machara in A&A 178, 221). It was included as a new planetary nebula in Kohoutek's 4th update list (AN 315, 1994). See my RNGC Corrections #2.

400/500mm - 17.5" (1/31/87): faint, small, almost round. Unusually weak filtration response as appears similar brightness or slightly fainter using filters! Estimate V = 14.5. This object was recently discovered to be a planetary in 1985 (Shaw and Bidelman) and is listed in the CGCG.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb