leda Catalogue of designations 
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This catalogue (table a101 in the database) presents the compilation of the designations of objects. In general, the designations are formed from an acronym of the catalogue where the source is described followed by a running number: For example, NGC 4486 means "the object number 4486 in the New General Catalogue". A given object may have several names. See a list of catalogues of galaxies from the NED knowledge database (Level 5).

The designations should comply several rules defined by the commission 5 of the IAU, and new acronyms should be declared to this commission. There are some variants between the coding of names between the various databases, Simbad and NED in particular. HyperLeda tries to use names as widely accepted as possible.

For most of the recent large surveys, the names are build from the acronym and from the position of the object on the sky (in general the J2000 equatorial coordinates). Note that the position must be "truncated" not "rounded".

Galaxy names

Acronym Number Reference
PGC  1.013.232  Paturel et al, 1989; 2000 
MCG  30.563  Vorontsov-Velyaminov et al. , 1962-74 
CGCG  29.812  Zwicky et al., 1961-68 
LCRS  25.264  Schectman, S.A.; 1996 
CGMW  19.370  Saito M. et al., 1990-91; Roman 1996-1998 
ESO  17.060  Lauberts A. et al., 1982 
IRAS  15.792  IRAS, Point Source Catalogue, 1984 
ESOLV  15.424  Lauberts, Valentijn , 1989 
UGC  13.856  Nilson P., 1973 
ZOAG  9.430  Weinberger et al., 1999 
KUG  7.935  Takase B., et al.,1984-1993 
NGC  6.502  Dreyer J.L.E., 1888 
DRCG  5.710  Dressler A., 1980 
IC  3.508  Dreyer J.L.E., 1895, 1910 
RKK  3.276  Kraan-Korteweg, 2000 
FGC  2.571  Karachentsev I.D. et al., 1993 
VCC  2.096  Binggeli B. et al., 1985 
FGCE  1.879  Karachentsev I.D. et al., 1993 
MK  1494  Markaryan B.E. et al., 1967-1981 
KCPG  1.205  Karachentsev I.D., 1987 
ANON  1.181  Vaucouleurs G.de, et al., 1976 
FAIR  1185  Fairall A.P., 1977-1988 
VV  1164  Vorontsov-Velyaminov B.A., 1977 
nZW  2714  Zwicky F., 1971 
KARA  1051  Karachentseva V.E., 1973 
UM  652  Kojoian G., 1982 
VIIZW  645  Zwicky F., 1971 
ARAK  595  Kojoian G., 1981 
KAZA  579  Kazarian M.A., 1979-1983 
DCL  570  Dickens R.J., 1986 
ARP  561  Arp H., 1966 
HICK  464  Hickson P., 1993 
UGCA  441  Nilson P., 1974 
FCC  340  Ferguson H.C., 1990 
WKK  322   Woudt, Kraan-Korteweg., 2000 
FGCA  291  Karachentsev I.D. et al., 1993 
SBS  284  Markarian B.E., 1983-1984 
DDO  242  Fisher J.R., 1975 
WEIN  207  Weinberger R., 1980 
TOLO  111  Smith M.G., 1976 
RB  57  Rood H.J., 1967 
nSZW  58  Rodgers A.W. et al., 1978 
MESS  40  Messier C., 1781 
POX  24  Kunth

Objects known by their lexical name

Many bright objects are known by a lexical name. These names are useful for some nearby large galaxies (Dwingeloo 1 and 2; Maffei 1 and 2, etc...). These names are given in the table below:
See also the list of named galaxies from the NED knowledge database (Level 5).

Description of the various fields in the catalogue

Field: design

Designation in a standardized spelling

Field: flag

Flag (To be written)

HyperLeda Questions: prugniel@obs.univ-lyon1.fr