William Herschel discovered NGC 1545 = H VIII-85 on 28 Dec 1790 (sweep 989) and recorded "a coarsely scattered cluster of large stars, pretty rich." His position corresponds with the brightest star in the cluster.

200/250mm - 8" about two dozen stars in the cluster. The three brightest stars are mag 7.5-8.5. Includes chains of faint stars with double star ?519 = 7.9/9.4 at 18" at the north edge.

400/500mm - 17.5" (12/28/94): about 50 stars scattered evenly over a 20' field with no dense areas or central concentration. A pretty pair of mag 7/8 stars are near the center (South 445 = 7.3/8.2 at 72") with a blue mag 9 star to the west (SAO 24549) forming an isosceles triangle. A number of mag 11/12 stars are arranged in a curving stream oriented SW-NE which passes through the bright pair. At the north side of the cluster is a pretty colored pair ?519 = 7.9/9.4 at 18". Off the east side is a small circular group of five faint stars and one brighter star in a clump.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb