James Dunlop possibly discovered NGC 7689 = D 347 = h7689 on 5 Sep 1826 and described a "faint round nebula, about 20" diameter." His position is 17' too far east-southeast. John Herschel found this galaxy on 5 Sep 1826 and noted "pF; L; R; vglbM; 2'." His RA was 40 seconds too small and this error was repeated in the RC2 and RNGC. Listed in my RNGC Corrections #6.

600/800mm - 30" (10/13/15 - OzSky): at 303; bright, very large, oval 3:2 or 5:3 NW-SE, ~2.7'x1.8', contains a relatively large brighter core that is only weakly concentrated. Spiral structure is evident. A short arm is attached on the southeast side of the core and extends east. A second arm appears to be attached on the southwest side of the core and extends southeast. Finally a third arm appears to the north of the core. The halo is patchy or mottled on the northwest side (HII regions or parts of an arm). A mag 11 star is 2.2' E of center, a mag 15 star is at the north-northwest edge of the halo and a mag 16 star (or stellar knot) is at the northeast edge of the halo.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb