William Herschel discovered NGC 1245 = H VI-25 = h290 on 11 Dec 1786 (sweep 645), recording "a beautiful very compressed and rich cluster of small stars, about 8' or 9' diameter, irr R." On 30 Nov 1787 (sweep 786) he added "The large stars arranged in lines, like interwoven letters." John Herschel wrote on 31 Dec 1831 (sweep 390), "rich, L, cl not very comp; irreg R with stragglers; stars 12...15m; brightest part 5' diam".

On 23 Nov 1848, Johnstone Stoney (Lord Rosse's assistant) wrote, "Coarse, cl. strongly honey-combed. Would probably look annular with eccentric eyehole if it were far enough to be a nebula."

300/350mm - 13.1" (1/28/84): about 75 stars in a dense cluster. Includes bright stars on the north side.

400/500mm - 17.5" (12/8/90): about 100 stars at 220x in 10' diameter. Rich in mag 13.5-14 stars and includes four mag 12 stars along the west side. Roughly circular outline and uniform but no concentration to the center, many stars are arranged in lanes. A mag 8.5 star is off the south edge and a mag 9 star is about 5' off the ENE edge.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb