William Herschel discovered NGC 1353 = H III-246 = h2546 on 9 Dec 1784 (sweep 331) and noted "vF, E, equally bright." On 19 Dec 1799 (sweep 1091) he reported "cB, cL, irr F, lE from np to sf." JH logged it on 11 Nov 1835 as "B, mE, gmbM, 90" l, 40" br.

200/250mm - 8" (11/28/81): faint, elongated 2:1 NNW-SSE, bright core. A mag 12 star is 2.8' SE of center.

400/500mm - 17.5" (11/26/94): fairly bright, moderately bright, elongated 5:2 NW-SE, 2.5'x1.0', large bright core, stellar nucleus. The halo appears more extensive NW of the core. The major axis is parallel to a mag 11.5 star off the SE end 2.8' from the center.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb