John Herschel found NGC 1571 = h2638 on 1 Dec 1837 and recorded as "vF; S; R; 15"; gbM; has a double star north-following." His position and description (the double star is HJ 3648) applies to ESO 250-019 = PGC 14971. Herschel discovered the galaxy a year earlier but placed it 10' too far north and it was catalogued as h2637 = NGC 1570. Apparently neither Herschel or Dreyer suspected the two observations referred to the same nebula. Although NGC 1570 is the earlier discovery, this galaxy is generally designated NGC 1571.

400/500mm - 18" (1/17/09): at 175x appeared faint, small, elongated 3:2 or 4:3 N-S, ~25"x18", very small brighter core. A mag 10.6/10.8 double star (h3648) at 12" separation lies 3' ENE. Located 47' NW of a mag 6.4 star and 49' NE of a mag 5.3 star. Viewed at only 7 degrees elevation from Lake Sonoma.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb