William Herschel discovered NGC 2870 = H III-846 = h595 on 19 Mar 1790 (sweep 952) and logged "cF, S, mE, very narrow." John Herschel described this galaxy on 9 Feb 1831 (sweep 323) as "vF; pL; lE; vglbM; 35" l, 30" br."

400/500mm - 17.5" (4/4/92): fairly faint, moderately large, very elongated 4:1 WNW-ESE, 2.0'x0.5', brighter core. Located 4.5' NE of a mag 10 star.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb