George Johnstone Stoney, Lord Rosse's assistant, discovered IC 459, along with IC 458, 461, 464 on 31 Jan 1851. Hermann Kobold discovered it independently at Strasbourg on 2 Dec 1893 (both Rosse and Kobold are credited in the IC).

400/500mm - 18" (12/18/06): extremely faint, very small, round, 20" diameter, low surface brightness, no concentration. Located 5' due west of NGC 2340 in the core of the cluster and 3.6' N of IC 458.

600/800mm - 24" (2/15/18): at 375x: very faint, small, slightly elongated, 20"x15", low surface brightness, can hold steadily once identified. Located 5' W of NGC 2340 and 3.4' NW of mag 10 HD 233347 in the center of the galaxy cluster. IC 460 lies 1.8' NE and IC 458 is 3.6' S.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb