[7] GD 358 was discovered during the 1958–1970 Lowell Observatory survey for high proper motion stars in the Northern Hemisphere.

[8] Although it did not have high proper motion, it was noticed that it was a very blue star, and hence might be a white dwarf.

[10] In 1968, Arlo U. Landolt discovered the first intrinsically variable white dwarf when he found that HL Tau 76 varied in brightness with a period of approximately 749.5 seconds, or 12.5 minutes.

[12][13][14] In 1982, calculations by Don Winget and his coworkers suggested that helium-atmosphere DB white dwarfs with surface temperatures around 19,000 K should also pulsate.

Winget then searched for such stars and found that GD 358 was a variable DB, or DBV, white dwarf.