Guillaume Bigourdan discovered IC 43 = B. 106 on 15 Nov 1889 and noted "diffuse, with a stellar condensation, and seems slightly eccentric."

400/500mm - 17.5" (10/5/02): fairly faint, fairly small, slightly elongated, 0.9'x0.7', broad concentration to a slightly brighter core. A faint stellar nucleus was visible with direct vision. Located 3.4' NW of a mag 10.4 star. Member of the Pisces-Perseus Supercluster.

600/800mm - 24" (12/12/17): at 375x; fairly faint, moderately large, slightly elongated, 1' diameter, broad concentration, contains a brighter core that gradually increases to the center. A mag 10.7 star is 3.4' SE. IC 45 is a very faint pair of stars (mag 15.2/15.7 at ~17"), ~3' ENE. UGC 449, situated 3.5' N, appeared very faint, elongated 5:2 SW-NE, 36"x15", low even surface brightness. UGC 449 is misidentified as IC 45 in most sources.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb