Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 850 (= GC 503 = WH III 259, d'Arrest, 1860 RA 02 04 07, NPD 92 08.6) is "extremely faint, extremely small, irregular figure".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.3 by 1.1 arcmin (from the images below).

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 851 (Swift list III (#10), 1860 RA 02 04 07, NPD 86 53.2) is "extremely faint, pretty small, round, very difficult".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.0 by 0.6 arcmin (from images below)

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 852 (= GC 502 = JH 2467, 1860 RA 02 04 16, NPD 147 23.6) is "pretty faint, pretty small, round, gradually a little brighter middle, mottled but not resolved".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.3 by 1.1 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 853 (= GC 504 = WH II 486, 1860 RA 02 04 46, NPD 99 58.1) is "faint, small, extended".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.6 by 1.4 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 854 (= GC 505 = JH 2468, 1860 RA 02 05 37, NPD 126 30.6) is "considerably faint, pretty small, a little extended 0°, gradually brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.8 by 0.6 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 855 (= GC 506 = WH II 613, 1860 RA 02 05 52, NPD 62 46.9) is "faint, small, a little extended 90°, brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.5 by 0.8 arcmin (from images below)

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 856 (Swift list V (#22), 1860 RA 02 06 24, NPD 91 21.6) is "extremely faint, small, a little extended, faint star close to east". The position precesses to RA 02 13 32.4, Dec -00 42 09, about 1.8 arcmin northwest of the galaxy, but there is nothing else nearby and the star just east of the galaxy matches the description, so the identification is certain.
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.6 by 1.2 arcmin (from the images below). A Seyfert galaxy (type Sy 1).

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 857 (= GC 507 = JH 2469, 1860 RA 02 06 31, NPD 122 36.2) is "considerably bright, small, extended, pretty suddenly much brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.7 by 1.55 arcmin (from images below)

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 858 (Leavenworth list II (#328), 1860 RA 02 06 43, NPD 113 09.5) is "extremely faint, pretty large, round". The second Index Catalog lists a corrected RA (per Howe) of 02 06 02. The corrected position precesses to RA 02 12 30.2, Dec -22 29 58, which is only 1.7 arcmin south of the galaxy, and there nothing else nearby, so the identification is considered certain.
Physical Information: Based on a recessional velocity of 12355 km/sec, a straightforward calculation indicates that NGC 858 is about 575 million light years away. However, for galaxies at such distances we should take into account the Universal expansion during the time it took their light to reach us. Doing that shows that the galaxy was about 550 million light years away when the light by which we see it was emitted, about 560 million years ago (the difference between the two numbers being due to the expansion of the intervening space during the light-travel time). Given that and its apparent size of 1.3 by 1.1 arcmin(?), the galaxy is about 210 thousand light years across. There is a fairly common presumption that NGC 858 is paired with the galaxy to its east (2MASXJ02123376-2228092), which is often referred to as "NGC 858-2", presumably on the basis of their supposed pairing. But whether there is any physical relationship between them appears uncertain at best, as practically nothing is known about the "companion", and there is little if any evidence of interaction between them in the images below; so they are just as likely to be merely an optical double.

Physical Information: This supposed companion to NGC 858 (which see for images) has an apparent size of 0.4 by 0.2 arcmin(?). Other than that, nothing seems to be known about it, and as discussed at the entry for NGC 858, whether the galaxies are really a physical pair or merely an optical double is unknown. (Note: Wolfram Alpha lists identical recessional velocities for the pair, but rather than being a confirmation of their proximity by an actual measurement of their radial velocities, it is simply a repetition of the recessional velocity of NGC 858 based on the presumption that they are a pair.)

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 859 (Swift list V (#23), 1860 RA 02 06 44, NPD 91 22.9) is "pretty faint, pretty small, round, little brighter middle". The second Index Catalog adds "Not found by Howe". The position precesses to RA 02 13 52.4, Dec -00 43 29, about 3.5 arcmin east of NGC 856, and if Howe was expecting to find another galaxy at that location it is hardly surprising that he didn't, as there isn't one. Per Corwin, it seems reasonably certain that Swift's observations on the night of Oct 31 were of the same objects he found on the night of Oct 3, but with various differences in their recorded positions. There seems to be general agreement that this is correct, and that NGC 856 and 859 are the same object.
Physical Information: Given the duplicate entry, see NGC 856 for anything else.

Above, a 12 arcmin wide region centered on NGC 856, showing the location of Swift's V-22, which is listed as NGC 856, and V-23, which is listed as NGC 859.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 860 (= GC 5227, Stephan list VI (#4), 1860 RA 02 06 51, NPD 59 52.6) is "a 13th magnitude star in faint nebulosity".
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.55 by 0.4 arcmin (from images below).

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 861 (= GC 5228, d'Arrest, 1860 RA 02 07 23, NPD 54 44.9) is "very faint, small, double star attached on southwest".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.5 by 0.5 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 862 (= GC 508 = JH 2470, 1860 RA 02 07 24, NPD 132 41.2) is "faint, very small, suddenly very much brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.15 by 1.1 arcmin (from the images below)

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 863 (= GC 509 = JH 205 = WH III 260, 1860 RA 02 07 25, NPD 91 25.0) is "very faint, round, brighter middle, stellar". The position precesses to RA 02 14 33.3, Dec -00 45 39, right on the galaxy, so the identification is certain.
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.1 by 1.0 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 864 (= GC 510 = JH 206 = WH III 457, 1860 RA 02 08 06, NPD 84 39.5) is "extremely faint, considerably large, round, gradually brighter middle, 12th magnitude star attached on southeast".
Physical Information: Based on a recessional velocity of 1560 km/sec, NGC 864 is about 73 million light years away, in reasonable agreement with redshift-independent distance estimates of 48 to 65 million light years. Given that and its apparent size of 4.0 by 2.6 arcmin(?), it is about 85 thousand light years across. Used by the de Vaucouleurs Atlas of Galaxies as an example of galaxy type SAB(rs)c.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 865 (= GC 5229, Stephan list V (#1), 1860 RA 02 08 10, NPD 62 03.1) is "extremely faint, extremely small, irregularly round".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.5 by 0.4 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 866 (Swift list V (#24), 1860 RA 02 08 34, NPD 91 25.1) is "pretty faint, pretty small, round, little brighter middle". The second Index Catalog adds "Not found by Howe". This is not surprising, as the position precesses to RA 02 15 42.3, Dec -00 45 53, and there is nothing there, as shown in the image below. Per Corwin, Swift observed five nebulae in this region on Oct 3 and 31 of 1886, which were listed as NGC 856, 859, 866, 868 and 885. However, there are only three reasonably bright objects in the region, the brightest of which is NGC 863, originally found by William Herschel. He proposes that what Swift observed on each occasion was those three galaxies, but with positional errors that led to multiple entries. For instance, as noted at their respective entries, NGC 856 and 859 are almost certainly the same object. The question is, what do the other three entries refer to? Corwin feels that NGC 859 and 866, found by Swift on Oct 3, must correspond to the two brightest galaxies in the area, because their relative positions "northwestern of two" and "southeastern of two" correspond to the relative positions of the actual galaxies, and their declinations are close to being correct. Only Swift's right ascensions, which are notoriously poor, are well off the mark. On that basis Corwin assigns NGC 859 to NGC 856, the latter designation (from Swift's observations of Oct 31) being given preference because the description provides better confirmation of the identity, and NGC 866 is assigned to Herschel's NGC 863 (a comparison of the positions above shows that the declination is good, being off by only 5 arcsec, but the right ascension is off by 70s of time, which as bad as it is, is not as bad as some of the others in the set of observations under discussion here.) Note: The identifications for NGC 856 and 859 are discussed at this entry only because the relative positions of 859 and 866 are part of Corwin's argument for the identity of NGC 866. NGC 885 is not part of that argument, so it is discussed at its entry, and the same applies to NGC 868. However, it should be noted, since 868 is shown in the image below of Swift's place for 866, that they cannot be duplicates, as they were observed as separate objects on the same night (Oct 3, 1886). (Note: A Wikisky search for NGC 866 shows IC 866, instead. This is not because anyone thinks they are the same; it is just an error in their database.)
Physical Information: Given the duplicate entry, see NGC 863 for anything else.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 867 (= GC 511 = WH III 2, 1860 RA 02 08 41, NPD 89 36.0) is "extremely faint, very small, round, brighter middle". The position precesses to RA 02 15 52.6, Dec +01 03 12, but there is nothing there. A possible solution to this problem is provided by Herschel's entry for WH III 2 (from his 1789 catalog), stating that the object is (very roughly) 13 minutes east of 60 Ceti, and an unspecified distance to the north. Since 60 Ceti is at RA 02 03 11.7, Dec +00 07 42, that would put WH III 2 around RA 02 16 or so, and somewhere to the north of Dec +00 08. When d'Arrest found NGC 875 he noticed that its position fit those constraints, and suggested that his nebula might be the same as Herschel's; and as a result Dreyer notes that possibility in the entry for NGC 875. In other words, it has been thought that NGC 867 might = NGC 875 ever since the NGC was published, so any discussion of what Herschel saw has to include that possibility. However (per Corwin), a detailed discussion by Dreyer of Herschel's papers states that WH III 2 is about a degree and a half northeast of 69 Ceti, which would put it in a completely different place, and on that basis Corwin suggests (though without any great conviction) that what Herschel saw might have been IC 225, whence the contradictory list of possible identities in the title for this entry. On the basis of Herschel's Catalog and historical tradition, NGC 867 is most likely to be a duplicate of NGC 875; but if Herschel's original papers really read as stated by Dreyer, then we should amend Dreyer's 1912 statement (in the Monthly Notices) "The place of III.2 is extremely uncertain" to read "The place and identity of NGC 867 are extremely uncertain".
Physical Information: Given the uncertainty in whether NGC 867 even exists, listing any physical information would be presumptuous.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 868 (Swift list V (#25), 1860 RA 02 08 54, NPD 91 21.9) is "extremely faint, pretty small, round". The position precesses to RA 02 16 02.4, Dec -00 42 43, only an arcmin east of PGC 8659, so the identification is considered certain. The main concern would be that Swift found the object on the same night as NGC 859 and 866, which as discussed at their entries are poorly measured duplications of NGC 856 and 863, so it almost feels as if the apparently accurate position for NGC 868 has to be a mistake. Still, since both the position and description match PGC 8659, there has never been any serious doubt that it is Swift's V-25.
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.2by 1.0 arcmin, including the fainter outer extensions. Possibly a polar ring galaxy.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 869 (= GC 512 = JH 207 = WH VI 33, Hipparchus, 1860 RA 02 09 15, NPD 33 29.9) is "a remarkable object, a cluster, very very large, very rich, stars from 7th to 14th magnitude". (The description is taken from John Herschel's General Catalog.) The position precesses to RA 02 19 03.4, Dec +57 09 05, well within the 18 arcmin apparent size of the cluster, and in any event the millennia of naked-eye observations would firmly establish the identity. The designation of the star clusters has evolved over the last few hundred years. The last and greatest naked-eye observer, Tycho Brahe, measured a single position for the "nebulous star" which is the double cluster, and Johann Bayer designated that as χ Persei. The title "h Persei" was presumably assigned to some faint star in the same neighborhood at a later date. However, in about the 1840's it became common usage to designate the brighter western cluster as h and the fainter eastern one as χ, and that usage has stuck ever since. The point at which the stellar nature of the cluster was first noticed is not as clear, but it must have been known before 1654, when Hodierna listed the pair as #3 in his catalog of nebulous objects that were resolved into stars by a telescope.
Note About PGC Designation: As is true of almost all NGC/IC objects, HyperLEDA assigned a PGC Designation to this object, even though it isn't a galaxy; but as in most such cases, a search for that designation returns no result, hence its being placed in quotes.
Physical Information: Recent studies of the two clusters have somewhat revised previous estimates of their nature. It was previously thought that they are about 7000 light years away, but more recent estimates are around 10000 light years. Similarly, earlier estimates of their ages, based on the hottest, brightest stars still on the Main Sequence, have been substantially revised upward (primarily because of a large number of B-emission stars, which make it difficult to determine the "turn-off" point), from about 5 million years to around 12 to 14 million years for h Persei, and from around 3 million years to about 10 million years for χ. Other estimates of the cluster characteristics remain as before: They are separated by only a few hundred light years, and probably originated in the same star-forming region. Each cluster contains more than 300 blue-white supergiants (very hot, very bright upper Main Sequence stars), which give off substantial amounts of UV and X-radiation as well as visible light, and since fainter stars are generally far more numerous than bright ones, the total membership of each cluster (including fainter stars) must measure in the thousands or even tens of thousands. Although hundreds of times younger than the Sun, the hottest, brightest stars in these clusters are near the end of their lives, and the most massive ones have already turned into red giants, the last stage of stellar "life". These red giants are particularly obvious in the eastern cluster, as seen in the images below. Each cluster is approaching us at a little over 20 km/sec, but the proper motions and space velocity appear to be unknown (that should change soon, as newer space telescopes are achieving remarkable results in measuring such quantities).

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 870 (= GC 514, 3rd Lord Rosse, 1860 RA 02 09 33, NPD 76 08) is "extremely faint, stellar, 2 very faint stars close to southwest, south of h 208", (JH) 208 being NGC 871
Discovery Notes: Although Dreyer credits the discovery to William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, he notes that many of Rosse's nebular discoveries were actually made by one of his assistants, in this case R. J. Mitchell.
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.35 by 0.35 arcmin (from images below)

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 871 (= GC 513 = JH 208 = WH III 201, 1860 RA 02 09 34, NPD 76 06.4) is "very faint, very small, extended, 10th magnitude star 5 arcmin to southeast".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.1 by 0.35 arcmin (from images below)

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 872 (Leavenworth list I (#50), 1860 RA 02 09 35, NPD 108 27.5) is "very faint, pretty small, much extended 0°, gradually very little brighter middle, several faint stars involved".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.5 by 0.5 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 873 (= GC 515 = JH 209 = JH 2471 = WH II 474, 1860 RA 02 09 43, NPD 102 00.0) is "faint, pretty large, round, very gradually a little brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.6 by 1.3 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 874 (Messier list II, 1860 RA 02 09 43, NPD 113 50.5) is "extremely faint, pretty small, extended 170°, possibly a double star, 10th magnitude star to the northwest". The first Index Catalog corrects the attribution from Messier list II to Muller list II (#329), and adds "No nebulosity seen by Burnham." The position precesses to RA 02 16 08.6, Dec -23 11 22, well to the north of the correct position, but the description of the galaxy and the position of the nearby star make the identification nearly certain, and other than Burnham's inability to see any nebulosity (which may have resulted from his observing something nearer Muller's position than the nebula) there has never been much doubt of the identification of the NGC listing with PGC 8663.
Physical Information: Based on a recessional velocity of 12095 km/sec, a straightforward calculation indicates that NGC 874 is about 565 million light years away. However, for objects at such distances we should take into account the Universal expansion during the time it took their light to reach us. Doing that shows that the galaxy was just under 540 million light years away at the time light by which we see it was emitted, nearly 550 million years ago (the difference between the numbers being due to the expansion of the intervening space during the light-travel time). Given that and its apparent size of 0.9 by 0.5 arcmin(?), the galaxy is about 140 thousand light years across.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 875 (= GC 5230, d'Arrest, 1860 RA 02 09 54, NPD 89 24.1) is "very faint, very small (possibly = (WH) III 2 ??)", WH III 2 being NGC 867 (which see). The position precesses to RA 02 17 05.9, Dec +01 14 58, right on the galaxy listed above, so the identification as NGC 875 is certain. As noted at the entry for NGC 867, d'Arrest and Dreyer's supposition that the two listings are duplicate observations of the same object has traditionally led to that equivalence being considered nearly certain; but since it is not as certain as might be desired, d'Arrest should be given credit for the discovery of NGC 875, whether it happens to be Herschel's object or not.
Physical Information: Based on a recessional velocity of 6740 km/sec, NGC 875 is about 315 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 1.2 by 1.1 arcmin, it is about 110 thousand light years across. On the basis of similar recessional velocities, the galaxy is thought to be at about the same distance as its apparent neighbor, IC 218, and as a result they are considered a probable pair. (Corwin lists a companion at RA 02 17 02.7, Dec +01 14 24, presumably NOT = IC 218, since he does not list it as such)

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 876 (= GC 517, 3rd Lord Rosse, 1860 RA 02 10 18, NPD 76 07.6) is "extremely faint, small, round, 107 arcsec southwest of h 210", (JH) 210 being NGC 877.
Discovery Notes: Although Dreyer credits the discovery to William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, he notes that many of Rosse's nebular discoveries were actually made by one of his assistants, in this case R. J. Mitchell.
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.0 by 0.4 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 877 (= GC 516 = JH 210 = WH II 246, 1860 RA 02 10 23, NPD 76 06.3) is "pretty faint, pretty large, a little extended, pretty gradually brighter middle, 12th magnitude star 1 arcmin to southeast, 9th magnitude star 285 arcsec distant at position angle 166°".
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.4 by 1.9 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 878 (Leavenworth list II (#330), 1860 RA 02 10 50, NPD 114 02.4) is "extremely faint, very small, round". The first Index Catalog lists a corrected RA (per Burnham) of 02 11 30, and adds "faint globular". The corrected position precesses to RA 02 17 54.7, Dec -23 23 28, just south of the galaxy, so despite Burnham's incorrect description, the identification seems certain.
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.8 by 0.45 arcmin (from images below)

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 879 (Leavenworth list II (#331), 1860 RA 02 10 56, NPD 99 37.4) is "extremely faint, pretty small, irregularly round, brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.7 by 0.6 arcmin (from images below)

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 880 (Leavenworth list II (#332), 1860 RA 02 11 18, NPD 94 52.4) is "extremely faint, very small, round, suddenly brighter middle and nucleus".
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.4 by 0.3? arcmin.

Historical Identification: PGC 8789 (= WH sweep 478, 1860 RA 02 11 29, NPD 102 52) is one of "2 very close stars, that without sufficient attention may be mistaken for a very small, very faint (nebula)". The position precesses to RA 02 18 16.2, Dec -12 13 06, less than 0.9 arcmin northeast of the galaxy listed above, the description fits and there is nothing comparable nearby, so the identification is certain.
Discovery Notes: Although Herschel observed the object, since he failed to recognize it as a nebula he did not include it in his list of nebulae. He did, however, record the position of the nebula (and the star 17 arcsec to its southwest), so Steve Gottlieb was able to calculate its position, show that the northeastern member of the pair was a galaxy, and since if Herschel had realized it was a nebula it would have been in the GC and NGC, Corwin added to his "notngc" list. Its position on this page is based on its 1860 coordinates as calculated from Herschel's recorded position (in other words, where it would have been if it had been an NGC object).
Positional Calculation: Herschel placed the "2 very close stars" 7m 43s west and 3 arcmin south of 72 Ceti (= ρ Cet). The modern position of the star is RA 02 25 57.0, Dec -12 17 26, and it has a relatively small proper motion (only -0.0113"/yr in right ascension and -0.0095"/yr in declination), so it only moved 0.2 seconds west and 2 arcsec south in the 215 years after Herschel observed it. That makes its position at the time of his observation J2000 RA 02 25 57.2, Dec -12 17 24, which equals (1785) RA 02 15 34.1, Dec -13 16 07. Adding his offsets places his "pair of stars" at (1785) RA 02 07 51.1, Dec -13 13 07, which precesses to 1860 RA 02 11 29, NPD 102 52, as shown in the pseudo-NGC description above.
Physical Information: Based on a recessional velocity of 5830 km/sec, PGC 8789 is about 270 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of about 0.85 by 0.7 arcmin, it is 65 to 70 thousand light years across.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 881 (= GC 518 = JH 211 = WH II 436, 1860 RA 02 11 47, NPD 97 17.0) is "faint, pretty small, extended, brighter middle, 2 or 3 stars near".
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.3 by 1.5? arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 882 (= GC 519 = JH 213, 1860 RA 02 11 59, NPD 74 49.0) is "extremely faint, round, gradually brighter middle, 16th magnitude star near".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.2 by 0.55 arcmin (from images below)

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 883 (= GC 520 = JH 215 = WH II 437, 1860 RA 02 12 08, NPD 97 25.9) is "pretty faint, pretty small, very little extended, brighter middle, double star near".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.4 by 1.2 arcmin (from image below)

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 884 (= GC 521 = JH 212 = WH VI 34, Hipparchus, 1860 RA 02 12 35, NPD 33 32.0) is a "most remarkable object, a cluster, very large, very rich, ruby star in middle". (The description is taken from John Herschel's General Catalog.) The position precesses to RA 02 22 26.6, Dec +57 06 36, right on the "ruby star" stated as being in the middle of the cluster, so the identification is certain (and in any event, the millennia of naked-eye observations would establish the identity). (Note: The position listed above is for the densest concentration of stars in the cluster, and the center of the image below; Corwin also lists a position to the east of that (RA 02 22 32.0, Dec +57 08.6) as the center of the overall cluster.
Discovery Notes: See NGC 869 for a more thorough discussion of the history of observation of the double cluster.
Note About PGC Designation: As is true of almost all NGC/IC objects, HyperLEDA assigned a PGC Designation to this object, even though it isn't a galaxy; but as in most such cases, a search for that designation returns no result, hence its being placed in quotes.
Physical Information: See NGC 869, or h Per, for a detailed discussion of the double cluster.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 885 (Swift list V (#27), 1860 RA 02 12 39, NPD 91 25.0) is "very faint, pretty small, round, a little brighter middle". The position precesses to RA 02 19 47.3, Dec -00 46 15, but there is nothing there (as Dreyer noted in the second Index Catalog, writing "Not found by Howe (on) 3 nights"). Per Corwin, it seems most likely that Swift's observations of Oct 31, 1886 were merely a reobservation of the brightest galaxies in the region, NGC 863 and 856, but with a small error in position in the case of NGC 859 (= NGC 856), and a much larger error (5 minutes of time in right ascension) in the case of NGC 885 (presumed to be NGC 863). As Corwin notes, whether this is correct cannot be known, but most references seem readier to accept his suggestion than to consign NGC 885 to the dustbin of lost or nonexistent NGC objects.
Physical Information: If accepted as a duplicate of NGC 863, see that entry for anything else.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 886 (= GC 522 = JH 214, 1860 RA 02 12 47, NPD 26 52.3) is "a cluster, large, a little compressed, scattered, stars from 9th to 13th magnitude".
Note About PGC Designation: As is true of almost all NGC/IC objects, HyperLEDA assigned a PGC Designation to this object, even though it isn't a galaxy; but as in most such cases, a search for that designation returns no result, hence its being placed in quotes.
Physical Information: Per Corwin, a scattered group of 20 or 30 stars, centered near Herschel's position. Erroneously listed in some places as non-existent. Apparent size 14 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 887 (= GC 523 = JH 216 = WH III 486, 1860 RA 02 12 54, NPD 106 42.1) is "faint, small, irregularly round, pretty gradually brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.0 by 1.6 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 888 (= GC 524 = JH 2473, 1860 RA 02 13 20, NPD 150 30.1) is "extremely faint, small, round, 2 or 3 very faint stars near".
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.75 by 0.5 arcmin (from image below)

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 889 (= GC 525 = JH 2472, 1860 RA 02 13 31, NPD 132 23.0) is "very faint, very small, round, brighter middle, 7th magnitude star to southeast".
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.75 by 0.6 arcmin (from image below)

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 890 (= GC 526 = JH 217 = WH II 225, 1860 RA 02 13 43, NPD 57 22.6) is "bright, small, round, brighter middle, 3 faint stars to southwest".
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.3 by 1.6 arcmin (from image below). Quite possibly actually a spiral (type Sa?) galaxy, but hard to tell from the images below.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 891 (= GC 527 = JH 218 = WH V 19, 1860 RA 02 13 45, NPD 48 17.5) is "a remarkable object, bright, very large, very much extended 22°".
Physical Information: Based on a recessional velocity of 530 km/sec, NGC 891 is about 25 million light years away, in good agreement with redshift-independent distance estimates of 23 to 41 million light years, even though for such small radial velocities, peculiar (non-Hubble expansion) velocities can have a significant effect on the results. (Most references seem to use a distance of 30 million light years.) Given that and its apparent size of 11.7 by 1.6 arcmin, the galaxy is about 100 thousand light years across. Edge-on to our line of sight, it shows dramatic dust lanes bisecting its disk, while numerous tendrils of dust extend for hundreds of light years above and below the plane of the disk. Used by the de Vaucouleurs Atlas of Galaxies as an example of galaxy type Sb sp.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 892 (Leavenworth list II (#333), 1860 RA 02 14 02, NPD 113 46.3) is "extremely faint, extremely small, extended? nebulous?".
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.6 by 0.4 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 893 (= GC 528 = JH 2474, 1860 RA 02 14 21, NPD 132 03.0) is "pretty faint, pretty small, round, a little brighter middle, 8th magnitude star 4 arcmin to east".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.2 by 1.05 arcmin (from the images below). (Corwin lists an 18th magnitude dwarf galaxy slightly to the northwest, at RA 02 19 53.4, Dec -41 23 44, but whether that has any connection to NGC 893 is unknown.)

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 894 (= GC 530, 3rd Lord Rosse, 1860 RA 02 14 35, NPD 96 09) is "very faint, extended, brighter middle, a double nebula, connected with NGC 895".
Discovery Notes: Although Dreyer credits the discovery to the 3rd Earl of Rosse, he notes that many of Rosse's nebular discoveries were actually made by one of his assistants, in this case R. J. Mitchell; but apparently the Earl also examined the object, as I've read that in their initial observation of this region Lord Rosse and his assistant thought that this and NGC 895 were a double system, but after some thought they decided that NGC 894 was only a part of the larger nebula. Despite that conclusion, the emission region acquired an NGC entry of its own.
Physical Information:

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 895 (= GC 529 = JH 219 = WH II 438, 1860 RA 02 14 38, NPD 96 10.1) is "faint, very large, irregularly round, gradually brighter middle, a double nebula, connected with NGC 894".
Physical Information: Apparent size 3.6 by 2.6 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 896 (= GC 531= WH III 695, 1860 RA 02 15 01, NPD 28 40.8) is "extremely faint, pretty large, irregular figure". The position precesses to RA 02 25 30.4, Dec +61 57 29, about 3 arcmin south of the brightest portion of a nearby emission nebula, so that is considered to be the "object" observed by Herschel, and its position is the one listed above.
Physical Information: The nebula is a relatively bright knot on the western side of IC 1795, which is itself a western extension of a much larger more or less heart-shaped emission nebula referred to as the Heart Nebula. With modern telescopes and digital cameras, the entire nebula is easily imaged, so it can be hard to remember that visual observations with 19th-century telescopes were incapable of viewing any of the larger, fainter portions of such nebulae. Only the brightest portions were visible, as scattered "very faint" or "extremely faint" objects. Because of this there are a number of NGC and IC objects scattered across what seems to us a more or less continuous region of nebulosity.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 897 (= GC 532 = JH 2475, 1860 RA 02 15 09, NPD 124 21.5) is "pretty bright, small, round, pretty suddenly brighter middle, 10th magnitude star 35 arcsec to east".
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.1 by 1.3 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 898 (= GC 533 = WH III 570, 1860 RA 02 15 14, NPD 48 42.3) is "extremely faint, very small, a little extended".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.85 by 0.35 arcmin (from images below).

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 899 (= GC 534 = JH 2476, 1860 RA 02 15 26, NPD 111 27.2) is "pretty bright, small, gradually brighter middle, mottled but not resolved, double star to west".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.8 by 1.0 arcmin (from images below). Part of an interacting triplet with IC 223 and NGC 907.