Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 605 = St XII-18 on 21 Oct 1881 with the 31" reflector at the Marseille Observatory and recorded "vF; eS; R; bN". His position is accurate.

400/500mm - 17.5" (9/26/92): faint, very small, slightly elongated NW-SE, small bright core, stellar nucleus, very small halo surrounds core.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb