William Herschel discovered NGC 379 = H II-215 = h84, along with NGC 380 = II-216 and NGC 383 = II-217, on 12 Sep 1784 (sweep 268) and recorded "Three, F, vS, R, all in a row in the meridian, nearly of equal size, the distance between the two most south NGC 383 and 383] is about double that of the other."

300/350mm - 13.1" (9/29/84): fairly faint, small, slightly elongated N-S, bright core.

400/500mm - 17.5" (9/19/87): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated ~N-S, even surface brightness. Forms a pair with similar NGC 380 2' S in the NGC 383 group.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb