Lewis Swift discovered IC 1859 = Sw. XI-46, along with IC 1858 and 1860, on 5 Sep 1897. He reported "pF; pS; R; 2nd of 3." His RA was 25 seconds of time too small. The position was corrected in Robert Baker's 1933 "Catalogue of 985 Extragalactic Nebulae in a Region in Fornax and Eridanus".

400/500mm - 17.5" (12/9/01): faint, small, round, 20" diameter. Located 1.3' E of a mag 13 star. First of three with IC 1858 and IC 1860 in the ACO S301 = Klemola 2 cluster.

600/800mm - 24" (11/23/19): at 375x; between faint and fairly faint, elongated 5:3 N-S, ~35"x20". A mag 12.9 star is 1.3' W. One of the brighter members of the ACO S301 cluster.

24" (12/6/18): at 260x; very faint, fairly small, elongated ~2:1 N-S, ~35"x20", low surface brightness with a slightly brighter core. A mag 12.8 star is 1.4' W.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb