J.L.E. Dreyer discovered NGC 1281 on 12 Dec 1876 with the 72" at Birr Castle and noted "vF, S, *11m 1' p". With respect to NGC 1278 (incorrectly identified by Dreyer as h674), this object was placed 10.8 seconds of RA east and 239" N. This micrometric offset points exactly at CGCG 540-108 = PGC 12458 and the description matches.

400/500mm - 17.5" (10/24/87): faint, small, elongated WSW-ENE. Located in the central core of AGC 426 1.0' NE of a mag 10 star. NGC 1275 lies 7.8' SSW.

600/800mm - 24" (2/13/18): at 375x; moderately bright, fairly small, elongated 4:3 WSW-ENE, 30"x24", sharply concentrated with a very bright, very small core that has a high surface brightness. A mag 10.5 star is 1.0' WSW. Located 4.6' NNE of NGC 1278 in the core of AGC 426.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb