DeLisle Stewart discovered IC 4800 = DS 538 on a plate taken 13 Aug 1901 at Harvard's Arequipa Station in Peru. He noted "vF, S, stell N in oval ellip. ring, d 0.3' to 0.4'; nebulous wisps at 170° and 350°." This galaxy is as bright as NGC 6706, so it's surprising that it wasn't picked up by John Herschel.

600/800mm - 30" (11/3/10 - Coonabarabran, 264x): fairly bright, fairly large, elongated 2:1 NNW-SSE, 1.6'x0.8', well concentrated with a small bright core and fainter halo. The major axis is collinear with a mag 14.3 star and a mag 12.8 star, 0.8' and 1.3' NNW of center, respectively. NGC 6706 lies 12.5' WSW. Located at the southern vertex of a large isosceles triangle with mag 6.5 HD 174877 23' NW and mag 6.8 HD 175782 23' NE. Member of ACO S805 = Pavo II cluster in the eastern outskirts.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb