It was discovered in 1886 by Frank Muller and then observed again later that year by Lewis Swift.

Due to the major merger event NGC 17 has no defined spiral arms like the Milky Way galaxy.

[3][4] For the Milky Way, the galactic habitable zone is commonly believed to be an annulus with an outer radius of about 10 kiloparsecs and an inner radius close to the Galactic Center, both of which lack hard boundaries.

A difference of half a degree in positioning between the two men's observations meant that when John Dreyer created the New General Catalogue he listed them as separate objects.

[5] In 1900 Herbert Howe noticed the discrepancy; Dreyer included the update in the second edition of the NGC in 1910.