Albert Marth discovered NGC 2801 = m 157 on 17 Feb 1865 and noted "eF, pL". His position is 1' south of UGC 4899 = PGC 26183.

400/500mm - 18" (3/4/08): very faint, fairly small, round, 25" diameter, very low surface brightness glow with little or no concentration. Located 4' SW of a mag 9.9 star in the NGC 2804/2809 group

18" (2/9/08): extremely faint, small, round, 25" diameter, low surface brightness and required averted. Located 4.4' SW of a mag 10 star in the NGC 2804 group.

18" (3/11/07): extremely faint, fairly small, elongated 4:3 WSW-ENE, 0.6'x0.45', low even surface brightness, requires averted to glimpse. Member of the NGC 2809 group and located 4.5' SW of *10 and 9.7' SW of NGC 2809.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb