John Herschel discovered NGC 7303 = h2166 on 15 Sep 1828 and recorded "vF; R; vlbM; 20"." His RA was 12 seconds too small. The next night he measured a fairly accurate position. Harold Corwin notes that NGC 7304, discovered by d'Arrest, is not a duplicate of NGC 7303, despite being equated in the UGC and other sources.

400/500mm - 17.5" (9/2/89): fairly faint, moderately large, diffuse, almost even surface brightness, slightly elongated NW-SE.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb