William Herschel discovered NGC 7626 = H II-440 = h2233 on 26 Sep 1785 (sweep 442) and recorded "pB, pS, bM." His position is accurate. JH made two observations, "pB; R; bM; 30"." (sweep 89) and "B; R; pL; psbM" (sweep 280).

200/250mm - 8" (9/25/81): faint, small, bright core. A mag 6.5 star is at the south edge of the 40' field.

300/350mm - 13.1" (9/22/84): bright, small prominent core, fainter halo, similar to NGC 7619.

400/500mm - 17.5" (9/14/85): bright, slightly elongated 4:3, brighter core (although less intense than NGC 7619), substellar nucleus. A mag 14.3 star is less than1' W. NGC 7626 is the second brightest in the Pegasus I cluster and appears similar to NGC 7619 6.9' W.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb