John Herschel discovered NGC 7404 = h3958 on 4 Oct 1836 and recorded "vF; S; R; 15"." His position matches ESO 346-010 = PGC 69964. Lewis Swift possibly rediscovered this galaxy on 19 Jul 1897 and recorded Sw. XII-41 (later IC 5260) as "eeF; pS; R; 9m star nr sp; ee dif." Swift's position is two degrees south and 0.3 minutes of RA east of NGC 7404 but has a mag 7.3 star 11' SW, consistent with the description. IC 5260 may also be a reobservation of NGC 7421, which is 2.3 min of RA due east of his position and has a mag 10.9 star to its southwest.

400/500mm - 18" (10/25/08): faint, fairly small, elongated 5:3 N-S, 0.4'x0.25', very small brighter core. Located 22' NNW of the bright edge-on NGC 7410 and 11' NE of mag 7.3 HD 216443.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb