John Herschel discovered NGC 7396 = h2189 on 12 Oct 1827 and recorded "pF; irreg R; bM; 60"; r." His mean position from two observations is accurate. The four fainter NGC galaxies to the northeast were discovered at Birr Castle in 1856-57.

400/500mm - 17.5" (7/22/87): moderately bright, oval ~E-W, moderately large, brighter core. Brightest in a group of five or six galaxies including NGC 7401 9.5' ENE, NGC 7402 11' ENE, NGC 7397 6.5' ENE and NGC 7398 9.3' NE.

900/1200mm - 48" (10/25/14): very bright, fairly large, elongated 2:1 WNW-ESE, 1.7'x0.8', contains a very bright core that increases to an small, intense nucleus. An obvious dust lane extends along the major axis for most of the length of the galaxy, passing just south of the core. PGC 194158 lies 1.5' N ("faint, small, round, 15" diameter") and PGC 214871 is 3.2' SW ("fairly faint, small, round, 18" diameter").

Notes by Steve Gottlieb