James Dunlop discovered NGC 1515 = D348 = h2609 on 5 Nov 1826 using his 9-inch f/12 reflector from Parramatta. He found "a very faint nebula, about 35 arcseconds diameter. This precedes a group of small stars." His position is 1 min 15 sec of RA too far east (typical error) and a group of mag 12 stars follows. John Herschel first observed this galaxy on 5 Dec 1834 and logged "B, L, vmE, gbM; 3' l, 40" br".

Joseph Turner observed this galaxy on 26 Nov 1877 and Pietro Baracchi on 6 Dec 1885 with the 48" Melbourne Telescope but neither noticed the companion close west.

600/800mm - 24" (11/18/12 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): showpiece galaxy with a close companion at 260x. Very bright and large, very elongated at least 4:1 SSW-NNE, ~4.5'x1' with a bulging core -- similar to a smaller version of NGC 7331. The overall surface brightness is high with a very high surface brightness elongated core. NGC 1515A lies 2.0' SW of center. The companion appeared faint, fairly small, round, 30" diameter with a small brighter core and a very low surface brightness halo. Despite the closeness, the companion is more than 10 times as distant as NGC 1515. Member of the Dorado Group.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb