Isaac Roberts discovered IC 5076 on 13 Sep 1895 while taking a photograph of the "cluster" NGC 6991. The discovery was announced in MNRAS, 56, 33 (1895). He noted "it is about 6 1/2 minutes of arc in length from north to south, and 5 minutes of arc in breath from preceding to following, irregular in outline and with many stars, both bright and faint, involved or in alignment with it. The nebulosity has no regular structure and is of a fleecy character, the margins gradually fading into invisibility."

200/250mm - 8" (8/28/81): mag 6 star surrounded by very faint reflection nebula at low power using a Daystar 300 filter.

300/350mm - 13.1" (8/25/84): fairly faint, extends generally west of the mag 5.7 star although the border is irregular.

400/500mm - 17.5" (10/24/92): fairly faint, fairly large, 4' diameter. Extends west of mag 5.7 SAO 50246. The vicinity is fairly rich in arcs of stars. The nebulosity is on the west side of a striking 5' group of stars that are centered on the bright star. Ten of the stars surrounding the mag 5.7 star form a semi-circle including a tight quadruple 2' SE. A scattered group of stars (h2091 = NGC 6991) is 10' WSW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb