Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 7780 = St XII-96 on 18 Oct 1881. Lewis Swift independently found this galaxy in 1886 and communicated the discovery directly to Dreyer. Dreyer referenced Swift's 4th discovery list, though he probably meant his 6th list which was under preparation when the NGC was published. But Swift didn't include it in either his 6th or later 9th list, which included several objects Swift discovered prior to the publication of the NGC. Perhaps Swift became aware of Stephan's prior discovery, though a few other objects nevery appeared in his dozen lists.

300/350mm - 13.1" (9/29/84): very faint, small, very diffuse, elongated ~N-S. Two mag 14.5 stars are off the NE edge. Located 9' NNW of NGC 7782 in a group.

400/500mm - 17.5" (11/1/86): faintest of five in the NGC 7782 group. Faint, small, very diffuse, elongated N-S, very weakly concentrated core. Two faint stars are off the NE edge with the closest 1.7' NE of center.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb