Sherburne Burnham discovered IC 258, along with IC 259, on 3 Sep 1891 while observing double stars with the 36-inch refractor at Lick Observatory. The identifications of IC 258 and IC 259 are reversed in most modern sources. See notes on IC 259.

600/800mm - 24" (1/1/16): at 375x fairly faint to faint, slightly elongated N-S, 30"x24", small brighter nucleus. A mag 10 star is 1.9' ENE and interferes a bit with viewing. IC 258 is the brighter of a close pair with IC 259 1.0' WNW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb