Guillaume Bigourdan discovered NGC 1265 = Big. 20 on 14 Nov 1884 and reported "mag 13.3, 15" diameter, slbM." His position is 5 tsec of RA east and 1.4' south of UGC 2651 = PGC 12287.

In January 2017 I wrote Harold Corwin regarding my observation: "[I] initially was stumped on NGC 1265. It took me a minute or two to notice NGC 1265 as a relatively large, diffuse glow surrounding a fairly bright star that is superimposed. The star is not evident on the DSS, but you can clearly see it on the SDSS, including its diffraction spikes. NGC 1265 supposedly has a V mag ~12, but I'm guessing that includes the star, and the glow of IC 312 at V = 13.4 was more obvious to me."

Corwin checked Bigourdan's records and found he misplaced his offset star by 8'. Once corrected, his offset points to IC 312! Although the 8 arcminute error is unexplained, Corwin concludes "it is clear that Bigiourdan discovered IC 312 and not UGC 2651." Although he has updated his files to this identification, it will be difficult to change other databases and the literature on the Perseus galaxy cluster.

400/500mm - 17.5" (1/7/89): very faint, small, round glow. This member of the AGC 426 cluster is located just east of a mag 11 star and has a striking location. Forms a pair with IC 312 6' SSW.

Note: The bright star is directly superimposed, so there was some confusion in this observation.

Note: In 2017 it was determined that based on the historical record NGC 1265 = IC 312 (description below) and the traditional identification NGC 1265 = UGC 2651 is incorrect.

600/800mm - 24" (1/28/17): at 282x; large, very diffuse glow with a bright star superimposed just east of center! This galaxy appeared as a low surface brightness haze perhaps 1.25' in diameter. With careful viewing, there appeared to be a very small, slightly brighter core just west of the star. A mag 10.4 star lies 2.7' S. IC 312 lies 6' SSW.

24" (1/28/17): at 282x; moderately bright, fairly small, oval 3:2 NW-SE, 0.6'x0.4', small bright core. PGC 12288, just 1.9' SE, appeared faint, small, elongated ~3:1 SSW-NNE, ~20"x7". A mag 14-14.5 star is at the northeast end. NGC 1265, a low surface brightness galaxy with a bright star superimposed, lies 6' NNE of IC 312.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb