It was discovered on 27 September 1873 by French astronomer Édouard Stephan.

[3] NGC 7320 is a member of Stephan's Quintet, however, it is not an actual member of the galaxy group, but a much closer line-of-sight galaxy at a distance of about 40 million light years, the same as the nearby NGC 7331.

Other galaxies of Stephan's Quintet are some 300 million light-years distant.

NGC 7320 has extensive H II regions, identified as red blobs, where active star formation is occurring.

The galaxy was imaged by the James Webb Space Telescope as part of Stephan's Quintet; the picture was released on 12 July 2022.