400/500mm - 18" (4/14/12): at 282x appeared fairly faint, elongated 4:3 E-W, ~30"x22", irregular surface brightness. On extended viewing, it was clear that there was a brighter, elongated bar along the north side of the galaxy, extending east-west. NGC 3338 (large spiral) lies 20' NW.

900/1200mm - 48" (5/2/19): at 545x; this unusual galaxy appeared moderately bright, with a 3:1 central bar oriented E-W and a slightly brighter core. A semi-elliptical glow (halo) extends to the south of the bar. The interior of the oval was slightly brighter, forming a very subtle ring.

48" (2/19/12): at 488x, the bright portion of the galaxy is an elongated bar oriented E-W and extending 0.6'x0.2'. A faint oval glow extends off the south side of the bar. I had the strong impression of a slightly darker region in the glow [this corresponds with the interior of a spiral arm] just south of the bar, particularly on the west side. A mag 13.3 star is 0.9' SW and a mag 17 star is a similar distance NW. A brighter mag 10.9 star is 1.8' NNW.

Arp 291 was placed in Arp's category of "double galaxies with wind effects" and was classified by Theys and Spiegel as a Ring galaxy (type RK4) in the 1976 paper "Ring Galaxies. I" (ApJ 208, 650). But Romano et al classify it as a misclassified ring that "resembles a one-armed spiral emanating at the end of a bar" in "Stellar Disks of Collisional Ring Galaxies" (AJ 136, 1259,2008).