Object: Galaxy NGC 2545 + a suprise             Constell: CNC

RA: 08h 14.2m           Decl: +21° 21'          Epoch: 2000 
Mag: 12.3m (v)          Size: 2.0'x1.2'         Type: (R)SB(r)ab

Observer: Jere Kahanpää
Obs. place: Hartola, Finland
Date/Time: 2./3.3.1994, 23.20

Telescope: N 205/1000
Magn: 133x              Filter:
Field: 22'              NE Lim.mag: 6.2m
Background sky: 2       Seeing: 3-4
Weather: -20 °C, no Moon.          

Brightness: both  4     Alt: 45°
Description: NGC2545: visible with 40x as a very small, round
haze of even surface brightness. 133x: A high surface brightness
core surrounded  some much fainter glow, size about 1.5'x1'. PA
of the core about 160°?. A 14m star is visible 1' NNE of the
core. It it just outside the disk. 

The 2nd neby in the field: This object was not detected with 40x
when I star-jumped to this field but after seeing it with 133x
it was evident with 40x as an almost stellar round spot next
to -45. 133x: Round, diam. about 40''. Quite concentrated but no
stellar nucleus.

While observing I classified this as an unusually bright non-ngc
galaxy since I was using Uranometria 2000.0 which has only a few
ugc- et.c. galaxies plotted. (I've added a few thousands to my
own...) So I calmly moved on to the next object on my list. 

The next morning (not very early though...) I took a closer look
on the observations of the night and classified this one as
needing some further investigation. Unfortunately enough I
didn't have my portable computer with Megastar with me. (My
family has a summer cottage in Hartola, which is almost a
perfect (by Finnish standards) dark sky site.) 

After a week or so I finally had the opportunity to check the
field against Megastar. To my suprise no additional object was
visible here and surely a galaxy this bright and large had to be
catalogued in mcg, ugc, cgcg or at least in PGC. But no. At this
point curiosity was rising to an unhealthy level but I had no
idea where to look next. (I didn't have access to internet then) 
  
A few days later I was suddenly hit by a terrible thought: a
comet! MY comet. And as 1« weeks had passed I would never be
able to find it again if it really was one... I rushed to
the phone and called mr. Arto Oksanen, who has a impressive
collection of astronomy-related software (and who was the
president of the local astronomy club, Jyv„skyl„n Sirius). 
"Hi!. Could you please check if any comet was near the position
08h 14m, +21° 1« weeks ago." 
Arto: "It's 1 o'clock in the morning!"
"I know"
Arto: "OK."

A 15 minutes the phone rang and the case was solved: The
periodic comet Schwassman-Wachmann 2 had been within 2 arc
seconds of the coordinates I've given! (not bad as the coords
have been measured on a drawing...). An additional point of
interest was the motion of the comet had been only a few arcsec
in a day(night) then. Even if I had checked the field the next night I
could not have seen the movement. 

What I learned from this case is: 
1. always check the field for additional objects whether there
should be any or not.

2. If something out-of place is seen check it as quickly as
possible. 

3. Accurate drawings can make the difference between finding a
new (or an old) comet and missing it.