Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 1050 = St III-18 on 17 Sep 1865 with the 11-inch refractor at Copenhagen. His single position is just off the north edge of the galaxy and he mentioned the mag 15 star off the north edge of the galaxy (called mag 18). Stephan independently discovered the galaxy on 9 Dec 1871 with the 31" reflector at Marseille Observatory. Both are credited in the NGC.

400/500mm - 17.5" (11/27/92): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 4:3 E-W, 1.0'x0.8', weak concentration. A mag 15 star is 45" N of center. This 15th mag star is described as mag 18 in the NGC.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb