Lewis Swift discovered NGC 6057 = Sw. III-89 on 6 Jun 1886 and recorded "eeeF; eS; R." His position is 2' south of the pair UGC 10191 and CGCG 108-130. Two nights later he found Sw. III-86 = NGC 6053 and Sw. III-87 = NGC 6055 nearby and assumed they were different. But there are only two reasonably bright galaxies, UGC 10191 and CGCG 108-130, close to his three positions. Assuming he picked up the brighter of these two galaxies on the first night, then NGC 6057 = UGC 10191. Two nights later he logged both galaxies and placed them 5 seconds apart in RA (the actual separation is 7 seconds). This implies NGC 6053 = NGC 6057 = UGC 10191 (observed both nights) and NGC 6055 = CGCG 108-130 (observed only on the 8th of June). After an email exchange in Nov 2014 with Harold Corwin, he concurs with these identifications.

This changes the standard identification in modern catalogues (UGC, MCG, CGCG, RNGC) that NGC 6055 = UGC 10191 and NGC 6057 = CGCG 108-130! It also places NGC 6057 to the west of NGC 6055, an unfortunate result if we preserve the historical record.

400/500mm - 17.5" (6/14/96): very faint, small, elongated 3:2 SW-NE, 45"x30". Situated in the NE corner of AGC 2151 with NGC 6055 1.7' ENE, IC 1189 7' ENE, MCG +03-41-115 6' ENE, UGC 10195 6' NE and NGC 6061 12' NE.

17.5" (5/28/89): very faint, very small, almost round, weak concentration, faint stellar nucleus. A mag 15 star is 40" WSW. Forms a pair with NGC 6055 1.7' ENE in AGC 2151.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb