Rev. Thomas Espin discovered IC 1311 on 6 Oct 1893 with his 17-inch reflector at his private observatory in England while sweeping for red stars. He recorded an "extremely faint nebula within a circle of bright stars." His position (though mentioned as approximate in his discovery list) is fairly accurate. The Lynga 5 position, though, is incorrect (repeated in Sky Catalogue 2000 and Skiff & Luginbuhl).

200/250mm - 8" (8/15/82): very small group of four mag 13 stars. Use high power to resolve.

400/500mm - 17.5" (8/17/93): very faint cluster; consists of ~15 stars mag 13.5 to 15 in a 4'x3' oval outline over unresolved haze. A mag 10 star is off the west side and most resolved stars are around the periphery. Located within a semi-circle of bright stars including mag 6.9 SAO 49274 5' N and mag 8.1 SAO 49289 6' E.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb