William Herschel discovered NGC 12 = H III-868 = h1 on 6 Dec 1790 (sweep 984) and logged "eF, pS, irr F." The 4 Nov 1850 observation using Lord Rosse's 72" reads "Some stars seen in it, it is vF. Nothing further remarkable."

400/500mm - 17.5" (12/19/87): very faint, fairly small, round, weak concentration, diffuse.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb