John Herschel discovered NGC 7091 = h3873 on 1 Sep 1834 and recorded "eF; pL; vgbM; 2'; place considerably uncertain [given to the nearest min of time and minute of dec], having been found when much past the meridian in searching in vain for Dunlop 561. This nebula is much too faint to have seen with 9 inches aperture. It precedes a * 6m nearly in parallel, about 40 seconds of time." His position is poor, but the description most likely applies to ESO 403-008 = PGC 66972, which is 1.3 minutes of time west and 8' north of JH's position. The bright star he mentions is mag 6.9 HD 205186.

Lewis Swift probably found this galaxy again on 9 Jul 1897 and described Sw. XI-206 (later IC 5114) as "eF, pS, R, e wide D* f 30 sec." His RA, though, is nearly 2 minutes too small and his declination 3.5' too far south, though there is a wide 1.2' pair that is 30 seconds following. So, despite his poor position (very common in his last two lists), IC 5114 is likely NGC 7091.

400/500mm - 17.5" (9/7/96): extremely faint, very small, round, 20" diameter. Requires averted vision and finder chart to pinpoint location but once identified could nearly hold continuously. I probably only viewed the core as listed dimensions are much larger. Located 7' W of mag 6.9 SAO 213103. Not found on a previous attempt.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb