Introduction

A detailed discussion of galaxies that may be located along the outer fringes of the Local Group has been given by van den Bergh (1994b). In general three criteria can be used to assess the probability that a galaxy might be associated with the Local Group: (1) The distance to that galaxy should be ≲1.5 Mpc (see Section 18.1), (2) it should lie close to the relation between radial velocity and distance from the solar apex (Vr versus cos θ diagram) for well-established Local Group members, and (3) it should not appear to be associated with a group of galaxies that is known to be located well beyond the limits of the Local Group. On the basis of these criteria van den Bergh (1994b) concluded that it was safe to exclude the following galaxies from membership in the Local Group: (1) Sculptor irregular = UKS 2323–326, (2) Maffei 1 and its companions, (3) UGC-A86 = A0355 + 66, (4) NGC 1560, (5) NGC 1569, (6) NGC 5237, and (7) DDO 187 (Hoessel, Saha & Danielson 1998). A particularly strong concentration of Local Group suspects, which includes (2), (3), (4), and (5) listed above, occurs in the IC 342/Maffei group (van den Bergh 1971, Krismer, Tully & Gioia 1995). Krismer et al. place this group at a distance of (3.6 ± 0.5) Mpc. Cassiopeia 1, which was once regarded as a Local Group suspect (Tikhonov 1996), also appears to be a member of the IC 342/Maffei group.