William Herschel discovered NGC 1888 = H II-289 = h352 = h2806 on 31 Jan 1785 (sweep 362) and recorded as "F, pL, irregular triangular figure, resolvable." I'm surprised he missed NGC 1889, which was discovered by Bindon Stoney at Birr Castle on 29 Oct 1851. Joseph Turner sketched the pair of galaxies (Arp 123) on 4 Jan. 1877 with the 48" Great Melbourne Telescope.

200/250mm - 8" (10/13/81): very faint, small.

300/350mm - 13.1" (12/22/84): fairly faint, very elongated 3:1 NW-SE streak. Forms a contact pair with NGC 1889 just NE of the center.

900/1200mm - 48" (2/18/12): very bright, large, elongated 5:1 NW-SE, 2.4'x0.5'. Contains a very bright, elongated core that appears mottled. The northwest extension is partially cut off in a north-south direction due to a dust lane near the midpoint and the northwest end has a much lower surface brightness.

48" (10/22/11): very bright, large, edge-on 5:1 NW-SE, 2.6'x0.5', large bright core. Forms a striking pair with NGC 1889, which is attached on the east side of the core.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb