William Herschel discovered NGC 871 = H III-201 = h208, along with NGC 877, on 14 Oct 1784 (sweep 289) and noted "vF, vS, E. South [the galaxy is 5' north] of pretty considerable star." George Johnstone Stoney, using the 72" on 22 Nov 1854, recorded "E nearly n-s; a S but conspicuous star closely follow centre, but not involved." This star is probably 16th mag. NGC 870 to the south was missed but confirmed in later observations.

200/250mm - 8" (1/1/84): very faint, small, even surface brightness. A mag 10 star is 4' SE and two mag 13.5 stars lie south. Located 12' W of NGC 877.

400/500mm - 17.5" (12/18/89): fairly faint, very elongated 3:1 N-S, weak concentration. A wide pair of mag 13.5 stars at 30" separation lies 2.5' SSW. Located 5' NNW of mag 9 HD 14108. Forms an interesting pair with NGC 877 12' E as both are elongated systems with bright stars situated 5' SSE. The galaxies and the bright stars form a perfect parallelogram with bases oriented exactly E-W.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb