William Herschel discovered NGC 2814 = H II-868 = h576 on 3 Apr 1791 (sweep 1004) and recorded both as "Two nebulae. The first [NGC 2814] F, S, iF, the second [NGC 2820] F, pL, E. The place is that of the second [NGC 2820], the other precedes it about 30 seconds and is nearly in the same parallel." Dreyer commented in the notes section "Not seen by d'Arrest, and [John Herschel] only observed the following one (II.869)." Dreyer assigned h576 to[NGC 2820 but John Herschel's position on 30 Mar 1832 (sweep 410) corresponds with NGC 2814, and h579 = NGC 2816 is identical to H II-869 =[NGC 2820 (see notes on NGC 2816).

400/500mm - 17.5" (4/6/91): faint, small, very elongated 3:1 N-S, almost even surface brightness. A mag 11 star is 20" off the south tip and 1.1' SSW of center. This galaxy is smaller but has a higher surface brightness than NGC 2820 4' E. Located 11' NE of NGC 2805 in a group.

600/800mm - 24" (2/22/14): fairly faint to moderately bright, moderately large, thin edge-on 3:1 or 4:1 N-S, 1.0'x0.25', bright core bulges slightly, tapers at the tips (spindle-shaped). A mag 11.4 star is 1.1' SSW of center, just off the southern tip. Forms a striking pair with edge-on NGC 2820 4' E, along with IC 2458. NGC 2805 lies 10' SW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb