William Herschel discovered NGC 779 = H I-101 = h183 on 10 Sep 1785 (sweep 436) and logged "cB, pL, mbM, E a few degrees deviating from the meridian; from np to sf." John Herschel observed the galaxy on 3 sweeps, including 2 Jan 1827 (sweep 40): "pB; pL; E; pos about 160° by diag." His position angle and position is accurate.

200/250mm - 8" (10/13/81): fairly bright, bright core, edge-on N-S.

400/500mm - 17.5" (11/27/92): bright, fairly large, very elongated 3:1 NNW-SSE in PA 160°, 3.0'x1.0', brighter core, substellar nucleus. A mag 11 star is 4.6' SSW of center.

900/1200mm - 48" (10/24/14): extremely bright, very large, nearly edge-on 7:2 NNW-SSE, 3.5'x1.0'. Contains an intensely bright, mottled core and nucleus. The core is within a brighter, elongated "bar". The outer halo appears to extend further to the south with averted vision and bend slightly with respect to the central region. The northern end of the halo has a similar effect as if the galaxy is very slightly warped.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb