E.E. Barnard discovered IC 356 on 23 Aug 1889 with the 12-inch refractor at Lick Observatory. His simple eyepiece sketch clearly identifies the neighboring stars. Barnard didn't publish his discovery until 1892 (AN 3097) in response to an independent discovery by William Denning on 7 Nov 1890 (Observatory, 15, 104 (1892)). Barnard's article was titled "Two Probably Variable Nebulae". In the article he mentions "from its brightness it is not possible that it has been so conspicuous for any great length of time, or it would surely have been found by Swift and others."

Both Barnard and Denning are credited in the IC. Denning was a bit peeved about Barnard's late discovery note and wrote "Mr. Barnard claims to have discovered [IC 356] in August 1889 whereas I did not pick it up until Nov 1890. While admitting this claim, I would venture to remark that anyone who makes a discovery ought to be prompt in announcing it, as a delay of several years is very likely to cause misconception and unnecessary trouble to others. I think that in ordinary cases priority of announcement ought to be accepted as priority of discovery." He also questioned Barnard's claim that the nebula had recent brightened, stating "I have picked up this object many times during the last two years without noticing any change in it other than can be fully accounted for by differences in atmospheric conditions."

But perhaps Barnard wasn't the first to discover this galaxy. Swift claimed (Astro-Physics, Vol XI, 566) an earlier discovery before 1879 based on marking the object on his Burritt's star atlas, though he didn't record or remember any particulars, stating he thought his early discoveries were all known!

200/250mm - 8" (11/28/81): very faint, round, diffuse, even surface brightness. Located south of a mag 9 star.

400/500mm - 17.5" (11/2/91): moderately bright, fairly large, elongated 3:2 E-W, 2.25'x1.5'. Contains a large brighter core 30" diameter with a fairly faint stellar nucleus. A mag 14 star is embedded in the NE portion of halo. Located 3.5' S of mag 8.6 SAO 13024. This is one of the brightest IC galaxies.

900/1200mm - 48" (2/18/12): bright, large, oval 3:2 E-W, 3.0'x2.0', large brighter core. There appears to be a very slightly brighter streak extending from the core to the southwest. Several stars are superimposed on the halo. UGC 2955 is 9' SSE and PGC 166486 = 2MASX J04083779+6950160 lies 4.7' NE.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb