Lewis Swift discovered NGC 799 = Sw. II-16 (along with NGC 800 = Sw. II-17) on 9 Oct 1885 with the 16" refractor at the Warner Observatory. His RA is 30 tsec too large (same error as NGC 800) and his discription "eeF pS; R; s[outh] of 2" should read "eeF pS; R; n[orth] of 2". Herbert Howe measured an accurate position in 1897 using the 20" refractor at Chamberlin Observatory (repeated in the IC 2 notes).

400/500mm - 17.5" (12/8/90): faint, very small, round, weak concentration, faint stellar nucleus at moments. A mag 14 star is just 45" E. Forms a close pair with NGC 800 1.8' S.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb