E.E. Barnard discovered IC 1757, along with IC 1756. The discovery date and telescope is unknown as he communicated the discovery directly to Dreyer, but he was probably observing with the Lick 36-inch refractor.

600/800mm - 24" (9/28/19): at 322x; extremely faint, very small, 10" diameter, low even surface brightness. Required careful averted vision for extended glimpses, but could hold for up to 2 seconds. Situated just 1.5' E of brighter IC 1756.

900/1200mm - 48" (10/27/19): at 375x and 542x; fairly faint, small, round, 12" diameter, very small brighter nucleus. Located 1.6' ESE of edge-on IC 1756, which lies in the foreground. At a light-travel time of 1.1 billion years, IC 1757 is one of the most distant galaxies in the NGC/IC that was discovered visually.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb