George Johnstone Stoney, Lord Rosse's assistant, discovered IC 458, along with IC 459, 461, 464 on 31 Jan 1851. The 1861 publication didn't include any details of the Birr Castle discoveries so this nebula was not included in the GC or GC Supplement. Lewis Swift found this galaxy again on 14 Sep 1888 (list VIII-44), as well as Hermann Kobold on 15 Apr 1893 (all 3 are credited in the IC). Kobold's position (used in the IC) matches UGC 3713. The MCG misidentifies +08-13-089 as IC 458.

400/500mm - 17.5" (1/20/90): very faint, very small, elongated 5:2 N-S, small bright core. A mag 13 star is off the south end 36" from center. In a field of four galaxies with NGC 2340 7' ENE, IC 464 5.0' ENE and IC 465 12' NE.

600/800mm - 24" (2/15/18): at 375x; fairly faint, fairly small, oval 3:2 N-S, ~30"x20", small brighter core but no distinct nucleus. A mag 13.5 star is just off the south edge [0.6' from center].

Notes by Steve Gottlieb