John Herschel discovered NGC 1687 = h2670 on 8 Jan 1836 and noted "vF; R; gbM; 20"." On the next sweep his position was a perfect match with ESO 361-013.

400/500mm - 17.5" very faint, fairly small, elongated 3:2 SW-NE, 0.6'x0.4'. Very small brighter core at moments but the overall surface brightness is low and the object required concentration for a steady view. Based on the apparent size, I probably viewed the brighter central region and missed the outer spiral extensions. Located 7' NE of mag 8.9 SAO 195348 and 19' NW of mag 6.7 HD 31142.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb