William Herschel discovered NGC 2679 = H III-294 on 13 Mar 1785 (sweep 386) and recorded "vF, vS, R, bM, large stellar neb." His position is 1.6' south of UGC 4632 = PGC 24884. John Herschel's observation from on 27 Jan 1827 (56) reads "pB, R, vgmbM, 15"." Lord Rosse and his assistants found a very close double nebula, with the following nucleus catalogued by Dreyer as NGC 2680. But the SDSS reveals there are only two stars on the following side of NGC 2679. See notes on NGC 2680.

400/500mm - 17.5" (3/25/95): fairly faint, very small, round, compact appearance. Has a fairly high surface brightness with a very small bright core. A nice mag 12/13 double star at 12" separation lies 7' W. Forms a double system with NGC 2680 attached at the east side within a common halo, just 0.2' between centers.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb