William Denning discovered IC 1454 on 9 Aug 1891 with his 10-inch reflector (announced in Observatory, 15, 104). He noted it was "rather a difficult object, except on a good night, though I picked it up with a power of only 40. It is noteworthy as being situated in the midst of a region containing very few nebulae." IC 1454 was found by Abell in 1955 on the POSS and listed as #67 of 73 new planetary nebulae. Abell recognized the earlier IC designation but included it in his list as it wasn't previously recognized as a planetary. In his second list (1966) IC 1454 was renumbered as Abell 81.

300/350mm - 13.1" (8/11/85): at 88x and OIII filter, fairly faint, fairly small, round. Located 4' W of a mag 7 star that detracts from viewing. At 166x with a UHC filter; easy to view, moderately large. Two very faint stars are involved near the NE edge.

400/500mm - 17.5" (10/13/01): picked up at 100x without filter as a faint, small disc situated 4' WNW of a mag 7 star. Excellent contrast gain with an OIII filter and appears as a round, 25" crisp-edged disc. At 220x without filter a faint mag 14/15 pair is at the NE edge. Very nice view using a UHC filter at 140x-220x; the PN was slightly elongated ~E-W but no other details are visible.

17.5" (8/8/91): moderately bright, fairly small, almost round, slightly elongated E-W, 30" diameter. A faint double star mag 14/15 is at the NE edge. Located 3.8' WNW of mag 7 SAO 3785. No central star visible. Pretty planetary at 220x without filter.

600/800mm - 24" (10/3/13): at 225x using an NPB filter, IC 1454 (Abell 81) appeared fairly bright, round, 30" diameter, crisp-edged. The planetary displayed a relatively large, brighter rim that was unevenly lit, and a small (~12"), slightly darker center. Unfiltered the annularity was more difficult to confirm, though the rim appeared slightly brighter on the south side. A pair of 14th magnitude stars are just off the NE side and a mag 13.4 star is 1' SE. Situated 4.3' W of mag 7 HD 215867.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb