William Herschel discovered NGC 1201 = H I-109 = h283 on 26 Oct 1785 (sweep 466) and logged "cB; mbM; iR; resolvable." On a later sweep he wrote, "cB, pS, lE in the direction of the meridian, mbM, resolvable, 1.5' long." Finally on sweep (593) he recorded "pB, pS, bM, lE." On 14 Oct 1830 (sweep 306), John Herwschel remarked "B; R; psbM; 30" [diameter]." His position was just off the north end of the galaxy.

200/250mm - 8" (10/13/81): fairly bright, small, slightly elongated N-S, small bright core. A mag 11 star is 4' NE.

400/500mm - 17.5" (11/26/94): fairly bright, moderately large, elongated 2:1 N-S, 1.6'x0.8', well concentrated. Dominated by a bright, very small round core and an almost stellar nucleus. Forms the southern vertex of an acute triangle with a mag 12 star off the NNW side 2.9' from center and a mag 10.5 star 3.8' NE of center.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb