Rudolph Spitaler discovered IC 818 = Spitaler 50, along with IC 821, on 19 Mar 1892. His position and description ("Somewhat irregularly round nebula, 1/4' to 1/2' compact center. 2.5' northeast is a mag 12 star. Discovered on 19 March 1892." is a perfect match, though he called this edge-on galaxy "round".

600/800mm - 24" (6/3/19): at 322x; fairly faint, fairly small, very elongated 3:1 or 4:1 SW-NE, ~0.6'x0.15'. This galaxy has a much higher surface brightness than IC 821, which is located 9.6' NE. Located 5' NE of a mag 10.5 star (~15" uneven pair).

Notes by Steve Gottlieb