?douard Stephan discovered NGC 1051 = St XI-5 on 27 Nov 1880 with the 31" silvered-glass reflector at Marseilles Observatory and recorded as "eeF; elongated NE-SW, a little diffuse, * att np." His position matches MCG -01-07-033 = PGC 10172, though the star is at the northeast end. Ormond Stone (II-338) independently discovered the nebula in 1886 with the 26" refractor at Leander McCormick but he made a 10 tmin error in RA (error caught by Harold Corwin) and it was also catalogued as LM 2-338 (later NGC 961). Stephane Javelle also possibly found the galaxy in 1892 and it was catalogued as IC 249 = J. 1-92, although Javelle claimed it was a different object. See Corwin's notes and Thomson's Catalogue Corrections. So, NGC 1051 = NGC 961 and possibly IC 249, with NGC 1051 the primary designation.

400/500mm - 17.5" (12/28/94): fairly faint, moderately large, elongated 5:2 SW-NE, 1.2'x0.5', no concentration. Very unusual appearance as a mag 12 star is attached at the northeast end 35" from the center and the galaxy appears to hang from the star. Forms the east vertex of a triangle with two mag 10 stars 6.7' NW and 5.2' WSW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb