Stephane Javelle discovered IC 737 = J. 1-204, along with IC 736, on 23 Apr 1892. See identification notes for IC 736.

400/500mm - 17.5" (3/8/97): faint, small, elongated 4:3 ~WNW-ESE (difficult to pin down orientation). Appears slightly brighter than similar HCG 59B 1.9' WSW. A mag 13.5 star follows by 1.3'.

900/1200mm - 48" (4/19/15): at 488x; moderately bright, small, slightly elongated NW-SE, 0.5'x0. 4', contains a small bright core. IC 737 = HCG 59A is the brightest member of HCG 59 with IC 736 = HCG 59B 1.9' WSW, MCG +02-30-040 = HCG 59D 0.8' E, CGCG 068-073 = HCG 59C 1.8' SE and HCG 59E 2.7' NW. A mag 13.5-14 star is 1.4' E.

HCG 59D = MCG +02-30-040 (often misidentified as IC 737) is faint, fairly small, diffuse, no core or zones, very low surface brightness. It is squeezed between HCG 59A 0.8' W and a mag 13.5-14 star 0.6' SE. HCG 59C is the largest member of the quintet. It appeared fairly faint, moderately large, very elongated 3:1 E-W, ~48"x16", slightly brighter core. HCG 59E is the faintest in the quintet and appeared very faint, small, elongated 3:2 or 2:1 SW-NE, ~15"x8", even surface brightness.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb