William Herschel discovered NGC 1045 = H II-488 = h253 = h2491 on 28 Nov 1785 (sweep 479) and recorded "F, S, iF, bM." John Herschel observed this galaxy at both Slough and the Cape of Good Hope. His Cape description from 22 Nov 1835 (sweep 648) reads "pB, R, bM, 35". Observed in a south-east cloud drift."

400/500mm - 17.5" (10/29/94): moderately bright, fairly small, elongated 3:2 SW-NE, 0.8'x0.5', well concentrated to a small prominent core and a stellar nucleus. A nice evenly matched pair of mag 11-12 stars (16" separation in PA 78?) lies 11' NW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb