William Herschel discovered NGC 173 = H III-871 = h33 on 28 Dec 1790 (sweep 988) and logged "vF, S, R, vgbM." CH's reduced position is 4' north of UGC 369. The On 20 Dec 1827 (sweep 113), JH recorded "vF; R; bM; 20". A star 11m pos 225° +/-, dist = 80"."

400/500mm - 17.5" (10/8/88): fairly faint, fairly large, round, broad concentration. Bracketed midway between a mag 12 star 1.5' SW and a mag 13 star 1.6' NE. Forms a pair with fainter NGC 170 7.5' SW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb