John Herschel discovered NGC 1878 = h2807 on 12 Nov 1836 and described as "vF, lE, gvlbM, r. (N.B. The Nubecula Major is here very poor, and hardly anything of it seen.)" His position, from a single sweep, is ~30" too far east.

600/800mm - 25" (10/10/15 - OzSky): at 318x; moderately bright, small, round, compact, 20" diameter, fairly high surface brightness glow, no resolution. Occasionally a mag 16-16.5 star pops at the north edge. A mag 13.5 star is 1' NE and a mag 12.5 star is 1.8' NE. LHA 120-N 193A, a compact HII region, is 4.3' NNW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb