Frank Muller discovered NGC 1886 = LM 2-400 in 1886 with the 26" refractor at Leander McCormick and recorded "mag 14.0, 3.0'x1.8', E 240?, *8 at 0.6' in PA 245?." His position is just 11 tsec west of ESO 487-002. Herbert Howe mentioned the "*8 sp 40" should read "*9 precedes 11 sec, 0.9' south, and a *8.5 about 6' S."

400/500mm - 17.5" (12/3/88): faint, fairly small, edge-on WSW-ENE, even surface brightness. Located just east of a line of four bright stars oriented NW-SE, including mag 9.5 SAO 170343 10' NW, mag 9.5 SAO 170346 6' WNW and mag 9 SAO 170350 3.4' SSW.

900/1200mm - 48" (10/29/16): at 488x; bright, striking edge-on 7:1 SW-NE, at least 2.0'x0.3', contains a brighter bulging core. This large, thin edge-on is nearly bisected by a thin, pretty subtle dust lane slightly north of the central axis. The portion of the core south of the lane was slightly larger and more prominent with a smaller section of the core north of the lane. A mag 10.0 star (HD 35127) is 2.7' SW, nearly collinear with the major axis. In additional a mag 9.3 star is 3.6' SSW (HD 35157) and a mag 10 star (HD 35105) is 6' WNW. These three bright stars, along with a 4th mag 10 star, form a prominent 11' chain angling NW-SE. On images, NGC 1886 is a miniature version of NGC 891 with a box/peanust-shaped bulge. Located 54' NW of M79.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb