Samuel Hunter, LdR's assistant, discovered NGC 1355 on 27 Dec 1861. His sketch clearly shows NGC 1355 labeled as Alpha, along with NGC 1358 (close to a double star). Heinrich d'Arrest independently discovered NGC 1355 on 8 Oct 1864 while observing nearby NGC 1358. He was surprised this nebula was missed by WH and Rosse (unaware of Hunter's observation). Dreyer made an observation at Birr Castle on 6 Nov 1877 and later realized that Alpha was d'Arrest's "nova". Nevertheless, he credited d'Arrest and not LdR with the discovery in the GC Supplement and NGC.

300/350mm - 13.1" (11/29/86): faint, small, edge-on WSW-ENE, bright core.

400/500mm - 17.5" (11/25/87): fairly faint, fairly small, very elongated WSW-ENE, bright core. NGC 1358 lies 6.8' SSE.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb