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Data are given for 16 extragalactic objects (predominantly AGN) behind the Magellanic Clouds and for 146 quasar candidates behind the nearby galaxies NGC 45, 185, 253, 2366, 2403 and 6822, IC 1613, M31 and M33. The Magellanic Cloud objects were identified by their X-ray emission, and precise optical and X-ray positions and optical photometry and spectra are presented for all of these. The quasar candidates surrounding the other nearby galaxies were identified through a CFHT slitless spectral survey. Although redshifts for only eight of these candidates have been obtained, previous observations indicate that the majority are likely to be quasars. A subsample of 49 of the brighter objects could confidently be used, in addition to the Magellanic Cloud sources, as probes of the gas in nearby galaxies for rotation curve studies, for studies of their halos, for comparison with higher redshift QSO absorption lines, or as references for proper motion studies.Comment: 10 pages of text and 3 plain Tex tables. Figures and full text are available at http://www.hia.nrc.ca/DAO/SCIENCE/science.html . To be published in AJ, Dec, 199

The published properties of M 1-78 are discussed with the purpose to resolve the object's classification as either a planetary nebula or an ultracompact HII region. A classification as a planetary nebula is rejected primarily because of the high luminosity of the object, but because of the chemical composition and expansion velocity of the nebula, a novel classification is proposed instead: that of an ultracompact HII region with a post-main sequence central star (possibly a WN star). It must therefore follow that observable ultracompact HII regions persist beyond the main sequence lifetimes of at least some massive stars, and so cannot be transient phenomena that are seen only during pre-main sequence or early main sequence evolution.