John Herschel discovered NGC 1629 = h2653 on 23 Dec 1834 and reported "vF, R, glbM, 1'." (single observation)
600/800mm - 24" (11/18/12 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): fairly faint, moderately large, round, 0.8'-1.0' diameter. A couple of mag 16-16.5 stars are resolved around the edges.
Notes by Steve Gottlieb