NGC 472

NGC 472 is a designation in the New General Catalogue (NGC), a widely used catalog of deep-sky objects in astronomy. It refers to a non-existent or misidentified object. Specifically, the designation was originally assigned by astronomer John Herschel in 1832, based on observations made from Slough, England. However, the position Herschel recorded does not correspond to any known celestial object. Therefore, NGC 472 is generally considered a "lost" or "non-existent" NGC object.

The possibility exists that Herschel made a mistake in his observations or calculations, or that the object he believed he saw was a transient event such as a minor solar system object near Earth that was not later observed. Due to the lack of a corresponding object at the listed coordinates, NGC 472 remains a mystery within the context of the New General Catalogue.