John Herschel discovered NGC 7658 = h3994 on 4 Sep 1834 and recorded "double nebula; individuals equal; eF; R; bM; 20"; follows a line of 4 stars at 11 and 12m, somewhat oblique to the meridian. He confirmed the description on 4 Oct 1836, though for some reason he only assigned a single h- and GC-designation. So, we have NGC 7658A and 7658B.

400/500mm - 18" (8/19/09): only glimpsed for short moments at 175x. Appeared extremely faint, small, slightly elongated NW-SE, ~25"x20", very low even surface brightness. The close companion to the north was not seen.

18" (10/25/08): difficult observation due to low altitude and faintness of this double system. This is the southern "knot" of two extremely faint glows (separation 40") that were occasionally visible. Too faint for any details.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb