William Herschel discovered NGC 1239 = H III-262 = h288 on 6 Jan 1785 (sweep 351) and recorded "Suspected, stellar, 240x verified it with difficulty." WH's position was poor but John Herschel was only able to correct the declination, as the nebula was "scarcely seen through thick haze" (sweep 96). So, the listed RA is roughly 30 sec too far east in the NGC. Still there are no other nearby candidates and the identification NGC 1239 = PGC 11869 is not in question.

400/500mm - 17.5" (1/7/89): faint, very small, round, weak concentration.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb