John Herschel discovered NGC 7408 = h3959 on 1 Nov 1834 and recorded "pB; R; vglbM; 40"." His position is accurate. Donald Menzel misclassified this galaxy as a planetary in "Five New Planetary Nebula", Harvard Bulletin 772, 1922.

600/800mm - 30" (10/15/15 - OzSky): at 303x; moderately bright, fairly large, irregularly round, ~1.25'x1.0'. There is a hint of a central bar ~N-S, but no well-defined core. The outer halo has an irregular surface brightness with a hint of structure and extends further on the east side.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb