William Herschel discovered NGC 1401 = H III-247 = h2568 on 9 Dec 1784 (sweep 331) and noted "eF, vS." His position is 23 sec of RA too far east, but JH measured an accurate position. I'm surprised neither noted the elongation.

300/350mm - 13.1" (10/10/86): faint, small, edge-on 4:1 NW-SE, bright core. A mag 13.5 star is just 0.4' N of center. NGC 1403 lies 20' N.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb