William Herschel discovered NGC 7302 = H IV-31 = h2165 on 3 Oct 1785 (sweep 450) and recorded "F, S, stellar, 3 or 4' north of a pB star. The chevelure pretty large." JH made 4 observations, reporting on 26 Jul 1830, "F; pL; R; vsbM to a S, F, R nucleus; diam = 2'; has a * sf in pos 352.5° by micrometer; dist 3'." Lewis Swift found this galaxy again on 8 Aug 1896 and reported Sw. XI-215 as "pB, pS, R; B * nr s; f of 2 [with IC 5204 = NGC 7300]." His position was just 2' west of NGC 7302, so the equivalence NGC 7302 = IC 5228 is certain. See IC 5204 for more.

300/350mm - 13.1" (9/3/83): faint, very small, slightly elongated E-W, small bright core. Located 3' N of mag 9 SAO 165152.

600/800mm - 24" (9/25/19): at 375x; fairly bright, moderately large, oval 2:1 WNW-ESE, at least 1.0'x0.5', sharply concentrated with an intense, round core. Mag 9.2 HD 213549 lies 3' S.

Forms a pair with MCG -2-57-15 5.8' ENE. This diffuse edge-on was extremely faint, very small, 15" diameter (only the core region seen)

Notes by Steve Gottlieb