Lewis Swift discovered NGC 1568 = Sw. V-60 on 2 Oct 1886 with his 16" refractor and reported "eF; vS; R; nearly betw 2 stars." His RA was 21 seconds too large and his comment "nearly betw 2 stars" may apply to two stars 1' northeast and 4' southwest. Most likely the companion NGC 1568A) is too faint to be seen by Swift. Jermain Porter measured an accurate position in 1906 at the Cincinnati Observatory.

400/500mm - 17.5" (2/1/92): fairly faint, fairly small, dominated by small bright core, fainter extensions NW-SE, faint halo. Two mag 12/13 stars are 1' NE and 1.5' NW.

600/800mm - 24" (12/22/14): at 375x; moderately bright, fairly small, slightly elongated, well concentrated with a small bright core that increases occasionally to a stellar nucleus. A mag 12 star lies 1' NE. Forms an interacting double system (II Zw 10) with NGC 1568A = UGC 3031 1.2' WNW. NGC 1568A appeared extremely or very faint, very small, round, 12"-15" diameter, low surface brightness glow with averted vision. A mag 14.5-15 star is less than 30" N. On the SDSS, this galaxy has a striking set of tidal tails; it is connected to brighter to NGC 1568B with a delicate, curving bridge and a long tidal plume extends to the northwest.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb