Lewis Swift found IC 622 = Sw. IX-23 on 29 Jan 1890 and reported "vF pS; E; 9m * s[outh]." His position is 2' W of UGC 5741 = PGC 31302 and the identification is certain, though the bright star is north, not south. This galaxy was discovered by David Todd on 5 Mar 1878 during his search for a trans-Neptunian planet with the 26-inch Clark refractor at the USNO and listed as object #30 (later NGC 3279) in his search results. His position is roughly 2 minutes of RA west of UGC 5741 (not an unusual error) but his sketch shows a very elongated galaxy surrounded by stars matching the sky, so the identification NGC 3279 = IC 622 is certain. UGC and MCG label this galaxy as IC 622 and don't apply the NGC designation.

400/500mm - 17.5" (4/13/91): faint, moderately large, edge-on 6:1 NW-SE, low even surface brightness. UGC 5737 lies 12' W.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb