This second table classifies the NGC discoverers according to the number of their discoveries. The more discoveries they made, the highest in the table they are. More details on the discoverers are to be found on the table below.

Except for some well-known cases, I have adopted the discoverer mentioned in Dreyer's original publication (generously provided by Brent Archinal of USNO). This procedure may produce errors and if you find some, I'll be glad you point them to me for future updates.

I have also assumed that all original NGC objects exists (which is surely wrong), and have established a second column where the "existing" findings (according to the RNGC and NGC 2000.0) are counted up, and a third one where a ratio of existing objects on the discoveries' total is given. I am aware (and you should be too) that these two columns are not firmly reliable: I have had no time at present to draw a parallel between the original total and a cleaned up version of the NGC, such as the one beeing produced on the NGC/IC web site (see their site for details). Surely enough, when the NGC/IC project will be largely completed (a long and tedious task indeed), the comparison should proove more useful and historically true. But this attempt gives an indication of the observers' diligence.

Not knowing a lot about it, I have attributed all the Melbourne observations to Ellery's credit. For the same reason, all the Markree catalogue discoveries have been attributed to Cooper.

Note that Rosse III, Mitchell, and the Stoneys worked together and I have attributed the same total to the four of them (i.e. 223).

You can reach biographies by clicking on the linked discoverers in the table below (but be prepared to hit the "back" button of your browser if you want to come back to the table).