Astronomical objects discovered in 1887

NGC 6685 is an elliptical galaxy in the constellation of Lyra. Its velocity with respect to the cosmic microwave background is 6432 ± 37 km/s, which corresponds to a Hubble distance of 94.87 ± 6.68 Mpc (~310 million light-years). It was discovered by American astronomer Edward Swift on 29 May 1887.

NGC 5988 is a large spiral galaxy in the constellation of Serpens. Its velocity with respect to the cosmic microwave background is 10697 ± 10 km/s, which corresponds to a Hubble distance of 514.6 ± 36.0 Mly (157.78 ± 11.05 Mpc). However, one non-redshift measurement gives a much larger distance of 668.62 Mly (205.000 Mpc). It was discovered by American astronomer Lewis Swift on 17 April 1887.

NGC 3443 is a spiral galaxy in the constellation of Leo. Its velocity with respect to the cosmic microwave background is 1468 ± 24 km/s, which corresponds to a Hubble distance of 21.66 ± 1.56 Mpc (~70.6 million light-years). It was discovered by American astronomer Lewis Swift on April 24, 1887.

NGC 5940 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the Serpens constellation. The galaxy was found on April 19, 1887, by Lewis Swift, an American astronomer. NGC 5940 is located 500 million light-years away from the Milky Way and it is approximately 140,000 light-years across in diameter.

NGC 5920 is a large lenticular galaxy located in the Serpens constellation. Discovered on March 30, 1887, by American astronomer Lewis Swift, NGC 5920 is 711 million light-years distant from planet Earth. It is a narrow-line radio galaxy and about 300,000 light-years in diameter.

NGC 3426 is a lenticular galaxy located in the constellation Leo. It was discovered on March 23, 1887, by the astronomer Lewis A. Swift.

271 Penthesilea is a mid-sized main belt asteroid that was discovered by Viktor Knorre on 13 October 1887 in Berlin. It was his last asteroid discovery. The asteroid was named after Penthesilea, the mythical Greek queen of the Amazons.

270 Anahita is a stony S-type Main belt asteroid. It was discovered by C. H. F. Peters on October 8, 1887, in Clinton, New York, and was named after the Avestan divinity Aredvi Sura Anahita.

269 Justitia is an asteroid located in the middle main asteroid belt. It was discovered on 21 September 1887 by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa at Vienna Observatory and was named after Justitia, the Roman goddess of justice. The asteroid is about 58 kilometres (36 mi) in diameter and rotates relatively slowly, with a rotation period of 33.1 hours. Justitia is one of the targets of the United Arab Emirates' upcoming MBR Explorer mission, which will visit seven different asteroids in the asteroid belt during the 2030s. MBR Explorer is planned to enter orbit around Justitia via rendezvous in 2034 and will end its mission after dropping a lander to the asteroid's surface in 2035.

268 Adorea is a very large main belt asteroid, about 140 km (87 mi) in width. It was discovered by A. Borrelly on 8 June 1887 in Marseilles. This asteroid is a member of the Themis family and is classified as a primitive carbonaceous F-type/C-type asteroid. It is orbiting the Sun at a distance of with an orbital eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.14 and a period of 5.44 yr. The orbital plane is tilted at an angle of 2.44° to the plane of the ecliptic.