E.E. Barnard discovered IC 396 on 20 Sep 1890 with the 12-inch refractor at Lick Observatory. He noted a "small, indef, 12 1/2 mag, field marked by 3 or 4 pairs of stars. The neb = 3/4' diameter, somewhat brighter in the middle [difficult to read]." His rough position is off by 16', but he made an accurate field sketch that clearly identifies this galaxy. He later computed an accurate position using the coordinates for his offset star (HD 30530). William Denning independently discovered it just a month later (19 Oct 1890), describing "F, S, R< bMN, F double star Sf." Denning was credited with the discovery in the IC as Barnard never notified Dreyer.

400/500mm - 17.5" (3/1/03): fairly faint, moderately large, elongated 3:2, 1.2'x0.8', small bright core is extended NNW-SSE. This galaxy is fairly bright for the IC galaxy and was immediately swept up at 100x.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb