William Herschel discovered NGC 827 = H III-227 = h198 = Sw. I-2 on 7 Nov 1784 (sweep 308) and reported "suspected 2 or 3 small stars with seeming nebulosity between them, 240 rather confirmed it, but left a doubt." Dreyer commented in his 1912 revision of WH's catalogues that the "Place perfectly correct, no other nebula near, but it is not a nebulous cluster but a neb, vF, S, lbM, difficult". Lewis Swift found the galaxy on 9 Oct 1884 with the 16" refractor at the Warner Observatory and reported it in his first discovery list. Although Swift insisted his observation "cannot be [NGC 827]", his position and description ("vF; pS; eE; spindle") clearly apply to this galaxy.

400/500mm - 17.5" (12/18/89): faint, fairly small, oval E-W, weak concentration.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb