New General Catalog Objects: NGC 800 - 849
Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 847 (Swift list III (#9), 1860 RA 02 03 33, NPD 46 04.9) is "very faint, pretty large, round". The position precesses to RA 02 12 19.8, Dec +44 34 47, just northeast of a relatively bright galaxy, so the identification is certain; the only problem is, the galaxy is the same one listed as NGC 846, so NGC 847 is a repetition of that entry. The duplication was noticed by Spitaler soon after the publication of the NGC, as is stated in the first Index Catalog.
Physical Information: Given the duplicate entry, see NGC 846 for anything else.
NGC 848 (= PGC 8299)
Discovered (Dec 11, 1885) by Ormond Stone
Independently discovered (Nov 1, 1886) by Lewis Swift
A 13th-magnitude spiral galaxy (type SBab?) in Cetus (RA 02 10 17.5, Dec -10 19 15)
Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 848 (Swift list V (#21), Ormond Stone list I (#49), 1860 RA 02 03 41, NPD 100 59.0) is "most extremely faint, pretty large, very difficult, star to northeast". (Swift's paper states (for his #21) "495-7-8-9 in field", meaning GC 495, 497, 498 and 499, which are NGC 833, 835, 838 and 839, Swift's field of view being so large that the other galaxies were within his field even though lying well to the northwest.)
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.5 by 1.0 arcmin?
Above, a 12 arcmin wide DSS image centered on NGC 848
Below, a 2.4 arcmin wide DSS image of the galaxy
Below, an 18 arcmin wide SDSS/DSS composite image showing the galaxies noted by Swift in his note
NGC 849 (= PGC 8286)
Discovered (1886) by Francis Leavenworth
A 14th-magnitude lenticular galaxy (type S0?) in Cetus (RA 02 10 11.2, Dec -22 19 23)
Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 849 (Leavenworth list II (#327), 1860 RA 02 03 43, NPD 113 00.6) is "extremely faint, very small, round (nebulous?)". The position precesses to RA 02 10 12.1, Dec -22 20 49, about an arcmin and a half south of the galaxy; but there is nothing else nearby and the description fits, so the identification is certain.
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.5 by 0.4 arcmin (from the images below)
Above, a 12 arcmin wide DSS image centered on NGC 849
Below, a 0.75 arcmin wide DSS image of the galaxy
