William Herschel discovered NGC 2955 = H III-541 = h620 on 28 Mar 1786 (sweep 549) and recorded "cF; S; iF; resolvable." CH's reduced position is 2' north of UGC 5166. John Herschel described it on 11 Mar 1831 (sweep 331) as "F; pL' R' vglbM; 30"; has a *18 mag 30" p." The star is just where he placed it, though close to 15th-magnitude.

400/500mm - 17.5" (4/18/98): fairly faint, elongated 5:3 NNW-SSE, broad concentration to a slightly brighter core. The core contains a slightly brighter nucleus with direct vision. A mag 15 star is at the west edge 32" from the center. Located 2.2' N of a mag 12 star. There is a faint "star" 2' N which seemed slightly nebulous in appearance, but the DSS reveals this to be a close pair of mag 15 stars.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb