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The New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars (NGC) is an extensive catalogue of astronomical deep sky objects that was compiled by John Louis Emil Dreyer in 1888. Danish born Dreyer spent much of his life in Ireland where he compiled the catalogue, which was based on Sir William Herschel's Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars.

Herschel first published his catalogue containing 1,000 entries in 1786 with assistance from his sister Caroline. He then added another 1,000 entries in 1789 and a final 500 in 1802, bringing the total number of entries to 2,500. In 1864, Sir John Herschel the son of William then expanded the catalogue into the General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters and Clusters of Stars (GC), which contained 5,079 entries.

Dreyer build on the early work of the Herschel's to produce the renowned NGC, which is still used by astronomers all over the World today. In total he listed 7,840 objects that are referred to as NGC objects. The catalogue contains all types of deep sky objects including galaxies, nebulae, globular clusters, open clusters, supernova remnants and planetary nebulae. Compiling the catalogue was a massive task for Dreyer, he had to deal with many observation reports from a host of different scopes that contained numerous amounts of contradictory information. The sheer volume of information and number of objects meant Dreyer couldn't validate all of them himself and as a result, he had to accept some data as recorded. Although Dreyer himself was very accurate in his transcripts, it's perhaps not surprising that the catalogue contains several, mostly position and description errors.

In addition to the NGC, Dreyer also published two supplements, known as the Index Catalogues (IC). The first containing 1,520 objects was published in 1895. The second published in 1908 listed an extra 3,866 objects. In total, the two IC's catalogues contain 5,386 objects.

Various attempts have been made to correct the original NGC errors. These include the Revised New General Catalogue by Jack Sulentic and William Tifft in 1973 and NGC 2000.0 by Roger Sinnott in 1989 using J2000.0 coordinates. More recently, the Revised New General Catalogue and Index Catalogue (Revised NGC/IC) published by Wolfgang Steinicke in 1996.


NGC / IC ObjectName / TypeConstellationChart
NGC 40Bow-Tie Nebula (Planetary Nebula)CepheusNGC40_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 147Dwarf Spheroidal GalaxyCassiopeiaNGC147_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 185Dwarf Spheroidal GalaxyCassiopeiaNGC185_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 188Open ClusterCepheusNGC188_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 457Open ClusterCassiopeiaNGC457_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 559Open ClusterCassiopeiaNGC559_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 663Open ClusterCassiopeiaNGC663_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 752Open ClusterAndromedaNGC752_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 869/884Double Cluster (Open Clusters)PerseusDouble_Cluster_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 891Unbarred Spiral GalaxyAndromedaNGC891_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 1097Barred Spiral GalaxyFornaxNGC1097_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 1275Seyfert GalaxyPerseusNGC1275_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 1851Globular ClusterColumbaNGC1851_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 2261Hubble's Variable Nebula (Variable Reflection Nebula)MonocerosNGC2261_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 2360Open ClusterCanis MajorNGC2360_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 2362Open ClusterCanis MajorNGC2362_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 2392Eskimo Nebula (Planetary Nebula)GeminiNGC2392_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 2403Intermediate Spiral GalaxyCamelopardalisNGC2403_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 2419The Intergalactic Wanderer (Globular Cluster)LynxNGC2419_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 2477Open ClusterPuppisNGC2477_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 2506Open ClusterMonocerosNGC2506_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 2775Spiral GalaxyCancerNGC2775_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 3195Planetary NebulaChamaeleonNGC3195_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 3626Spiral GalaxyLeoNGC3626_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 3766Pearl Cluster (Open Cluster)CentaurusNGC3766_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 4236Barred Spiral GalaxyDracoNGC4236_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 4244Spiral GalaxyCanes VenaticiNGC4244_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 4449Irregular GalaxyCanes VenaticiNGC4449_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 4559Spiral GalaxyComa BerenicesNGC4559_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 4565Needle Galaxy (Spiral Galaxy)Coma BerenicesNGC4565_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 4631Whale Galaxy (Barred Spiral Galaxy)Canes VenaticiNGC4631_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 4755Jewel Box (Open Cluster)CruxNGC4755_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 4889Elliptical GalaxyComa BerenicesNGC4889_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 5005Spiral GalaxyCanes VenaticiNGC5005_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 5139Omega Centauri (Globular Cluster)CentaurusNGC5139_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 5694Globular ClusterHydraNGC5694_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 6025Open ClusterTriangulum AustraleNGC6025_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 6124Open ClusterScorpiusNGC6124_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 6231Open ClusterScorpiusNGC6231_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 6302Bug Nebula (Planetary Nebula)ScorpiusNGC6302_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 6541Globular ClusterCorona AustralisNGC6541_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 6543Cat's Eye Nebula (Planetary Nebula)DracoNGC6543_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 6826Blinking Planetary (Planetary Nebula)CygnusNGC6826_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 6882/6885Open ClusterVulpeculaNGC6882_6885_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 6888Crescent Nebula (Emission Nebula)CygnusNGC6888_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 6934Globular ClusterDelphinusNGC6934_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 6946Fireworks Galaxy (Spiral Galaxy)Cepheus / CygnusNGC6946_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 7000North American Nebula (Emission Nebula)CygnusNGC7000_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 7006Globular ClusterDelphinusNGC7006_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 7009Saturn Nebula (Planetary Nebula)AquariusNGC7009_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 7023Iris Nebula (Reflection Nebula)CepheusNGC7023_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 7243Open ClusterLacertaNGC7243_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 7293Helix Nebula (Planetary Nebula)AquariusNGC7293_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 7331Spiral GalaxyPegasusNGC7331_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 7635Bubble Nebula (Emission Nebula)CassiopeiaNGC7635_Finder_Chart.pdf
NGC 7662Blue Snowball Nebula (Planetary Nebula)AndromedaNGC7662_Finder_Chart.pdf
IC 59/63Reflection / Emission NebulaeCassiopeiaIC59_IC63_Finder_Chart.pdf
IC 342Intermediate Spiral GalaxyCamelopardalisIC342_Finder_Chart.pdf
IC 2497 and Hanny's VoorwerpSpiral GalaxyLeo MinorIC2497_Finder_Chart.pdf
IC 2602Southern Pleiades (Open Cluster)CarinaIC2602_Finder_Chart.pdf
IC 2944Open Cluster / Emission NebulaCentaurusIC2944_Finder_Chart.pdf