William Herschel discovered NGC 7076 = H III-936 on 15 Oct 1794 (sweep 1062) and noted "vF, easily resolvable." His position is 7 min 54 sec of RA east and 16' north of Alpha Cephei. Just 2' further north is the planetary Abell 75, which was catalogued by Abell but not associated with the NGC number. John Herschel did not make an observation of this planetary. It was not found during a single attempt on 15 Sep 1873 at Birr Castle.

The ESO-Strausberg planetary catalogue uses the Abell designation. RNGC lists NGC 7076 as a diffuse nebula instead of a planetary and furthermore the declination is 6' too far south. I found the equivalency between NGC 7076 and Abell 75 and listed it in RNGC Corrections #3.

400/500mm - 17.5" (7/5/86): fairly faint at 79x using an OIII filter, slightly elongated, moderately large, estimate V = 13.5-13.8. Faintly visible unfiltered. At 222x two stars are superimposed; a faint star east of center and one at the north edge. The planetary is collinear with two mag 14 stars 1' N and 2' N. Located 15' SE of mag 7.2 SAO 19386. Not identified as NGC 7076 in CGPN and ESO-Strausberg catalogues.

600/800mm - 24" (10/3/13): picked up unfiltered but very good contrast gain with a UHC filter at 225x. Appeared moderately bright, slightly elongated ~48"x40". Clearly brighter along the eastern side with the brightest portion directly east of center, giving a partially annular appearance. Unfiltered a mag 14.5 star is at the east edge and a mag 15 star is involved at the north edge. Two mag 13.5/14 stars just north are collinear with the planetary. Located in a rich star field 16' SE of mag 7.4 HD 204211.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb