Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 875 = Sw. V-26 on 26 Sep 1865 with the 11-inch refractor at Copenhagen. Lewis Swift independently found it again on 7 Oct 1886 and recorded "eF; vS; R." Both of their positions match UGC 1760 = PGC 8718. William Herschel may have originally discovered this galaxy and catalogued it as H III-2 = NGC 867 (the identity was suggested by d'Arrest), but this identification is uncertain due to a poor position. See NGC 867.

400/500mm - 17.5" (12/23/92): faint, small, round, even symmetrical concentration down to small bright core. Forms a pair with IC 218 2.4' NNE, though the companion was not seen with certainty.

600/800mm - 24" (1/25/14): fairly faint to moderately bright, fairly small, round, 25" diameter, well concentrated with a small bright core that increases to a nearly stellar nucleus.

NGC 875 forms a pair with IC 218 2.4' NNE. The companion (similar redshift) is very faint, fairly small, very elongated 3:1 WSW-ENE, 25"x8", low even surface brightness. A mag 15 star is close off the ENE edge [35" ENE of center].

Notes by Steve Gottlieb