Rudloph Spitaler discovered IC 227 = Spitaler 3, along with IC 226, on 31 Dec 1891 with the 27" refractor at the Wien Observatory. His micrometric position is accurate. His description (summarized in the IC) reads "F, pS, R, lbM."

600/800mm - 24" (2/7/16): at 200x; slightly brighter and larger of a pair with IC 226 4.4' NW. Appears fairly faint or moderately bright (the listed mag may be too faint), fairly large, slightly elongated, ~1.0'x0.8', the diffuse halo fades out gradually so the size is difficult to estimate. Sharply concentrated with a well defined, relatively large core that gradually increases to the center. Mag 8.6 HD 15271 lies 4.6' NNE. I also picked up LEDA 213001 11.5' ESE, but missed nearby UGC 1958, an extremely low surface brightness edge-on. LEDA 213001 appeared very faint, very small, round, 15" diameter.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb