William Herschel discovered NGC 797 = H III-566 = h189 on 21 Sep 1786 (sweep 599) and noted "vF, pL, iR." He apparently found it again on 18 Oct 1786 (sweep 618) and logged "pB, cL, lE, mbM.", though his position is much closer to NGC 801. In Oct 1828 (sweep 188), John Herschel logged, "vF; R; sbM; near a *." There are actually a couple of stars very near and his position matches UGC 1541 = PGC 7832.

400/500mm - 17.5" (11/14/87): moderately bright, small, slightly elongated, bright core, faint halo, stellar nucleus. A mag 14 star is just 0.8' WNW of center and a brighter mag 13 star lies 1.7' ENE. Forms a pair with NGC 801 9' NNE.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb