William Herschel discovered NGC 1088 = H III-582 on 25 Oct 1786 (sweep 623) and noted "vF, S, irr F." His position is 2' south of UGC 2253 = PGC 10536.

400/500mm - 17.5" (11/10/96): faint, fairly small, elongated 3:2 SW-NE, 0.8'x0.5'. Faint stellar nucleus at moments. A mag 13.5 star is 1.2' NW. The main body appears elongated E-W on the POSS. Perhaps the elongation I noticed was caused by a superimposed companion at the NE end. IC 255 lies 5' N (not seen).

Notes by Steve Gottlieb