William Herschel discovered NGC 898 = H III-570 on 17 Oct 1786 (sweep 614) and logged "eF, vS, lE.". There is nothing at his position but 40 seconds of RA west is UGC 1842 = PGC 9073. The RNGC misidentifies CGCG 538-060 as NGC 898. This is a fainter galaxy 8' ENE of NGC 898. On the same sweep Herschel discovered H III-571 = NGC 910.

300/350mm - 13.1" (11/13/82): fairly faint, very elongated ~N-S. Located 10' SSW of mag 6.7 SAO 38002 within AGC 347. NGC 911 lies 19' E. Incorrect identification in the RNGC.

600/800mm - 24" (11/23/19): at 375x; very pretty edge-on ~6:1 N-S, ~1.2'x0.2'. Sharply concentrated with a very small bright nucleus. Situated in a rich star field with a group of 4 stars mag 11-13 forming a near rhombus ~3' SE (sides ~1').

Notes by Steve Gottlieb