Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 2876 = St X-20 on 5 Mar 1880 with the 31" reflector at Marseille and recorded "F, S, halo contains sev vF *." His position matches MCG -01-24-016 = PGC 26710. Dreyer incorrectly referenced Stephan's list IX in the NGC. Ormond Stone independently discovered NGC 2876 in 1886 at the Leander-McCormick Observatory and his position in the second observatory list (#413) is fairly accurate.

400/500mm - 17.5" (3/7/92): faint, very small, slightly elongated, small bright core. Pair with IC 2471 7' S.

600/800mm - 24" (2/8/18): at 375x; fairly faint, fairly small, slightly elongated E-W, ~30"x24". IC 2471, located 7' S, is slightly smaller but has a slightly higher surface brightness. MCG -01-24-017, situated 3' NNE, appeared faint, very small, round, 12" diameter. The trio are the brightest members of a small physical group.

Images reveal a diffuse plume to the west-northwest of NGC 2876, but I didn't notice this low contrast feature. The galaxy also appears to be a post-merger with an extremely fant plume extending 5' to the E.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb