Lawrence Parsons, the 4th Earl of Rosse, discovered NGC 1608 on 1 Jan 1876 and reported "about 1m 44s +/- following and 3.5' south [of NGC 1587/1588] is a pF, cS stellar neb, with a *12 mag 117" south. His position is 10' NE of UGC 3082 = PGC 15447 and the "*12 mag 117" south" is 1.7' north. Albert Marth (m 97) earlier discovered this galaxy on 7 Nov 1863 and Dreyer catalogued this galaxy as GC(S) 5342 and NGC 1593, but Marth's position was exactly 1.0 min of RA too far west, so the observations seemed to apply to different objects. FInally, Stephane Javelle independently found the galaxy on 15 Jan 1898 and he (as well as Kobold at Strasbourg) measured an accurate position for J. 3-988 (later IC 2077). So, NGC 1608 = NGC 1593 = IC 2077. UGC, MCG and CGCG label the galaxy IC 2077, though NGC 1593 refers to the earliest visual observation. Karl Reinmuth, in his 1926 survey based on Heidelberg plates, notes NGC 1608 = IC 2077. Discussed in Malcolm Thomson's Catalogue Corrections.

400/500mm - 17.5" (2/11/96): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 3:2 NW-SE, 1.0'x0.6'. Contains a 30" brighter core with fainter extensions. A mag 12.5 star lies 1.8' N of center. Located 22' ESE of NGC 1587/88 pair.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb