Lewis Swift discovered IC 5157 = Sw. XII-31 = D.S. 735 on 26 Jul 1897 and reported "pB, pS; R; 3 st in line nr nf." His RA is 30 seconds too small, but the identification is certain based on his description of the 3 stars. DeLisle Stewart also found it on a plate taken at Harvard's Arequipa station in 1899 and measured a more accurate position (used in the IC2).

400/500mm - 17.5" (9/23/95): fairly faint but surprisingly bright for an IC galaxy at a fairly low elevation. Appears round, 1.2' diameter, even concentration to a small bright core and occasional stellar nucleus. Precedes a line (5' length) of three equally spaced mag 12-13 stars with the closest 2.6' NE.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb