Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 7317 = St VIIIa-19, along with the other members of the group, on 23 Sep 1876. His position is accurate.

300/350mm - 13.1" (9/29/84): very faint, small, round. A star is at the NW edge. Second faintest in Stephan's quintet.

13.1" (8/23/84): very faint, small, round, visible without averted vision.

13.1" (8/5/83): extremely faint, very small, round, close following a star, requires averted vision.

400/500mm - 17.5" (9/14/85): fourth brightest of five in Stephan's quintet. Fairly faint, small, round, brighter core, easy with direct vision. A mag 13 star is at the NW edge just 16" from the center which confuses the observation. The interacting pair NGC 7318A and NGC 7318B is 1.6' NE and NGC 7320 is 2.5' E.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb