William Herschel discovered NGC 990 = H III-557 = h238 on 18 Sep 1786 (sweep 591) and commented "vF, vS, lE, resolvable, 240 power the same.". On 19 Jan 1828 (sweep 121) John Herschel logged "pB; R; psbM; 25"; moonlight."

NGC 990 was first observed with the 72" (by Johnstone Stoney) on 12 Dec 1848. Lewis Swift independently found the galaxy on 1 Sep 1886 and catalogued it as new in his fourth discovery list (#9).

400/500mm - 17.5" (12/23/92): fairly faint, small, round, small bright core, stellar nucleus, even symmetrical concentration from halo to nucleus. Located 6' W of a mag 9.5 star and 4' N of a mag 10.5 star. Part of the NGC 1024 group (LGG 069)

Notes by Steve Gottlieb