William Herschel discovered NGC 1954 = H III-590 = h2853 on 14 Dec 1786 (sweep 647) and recorded "suspected, eF, stellar, not very doubtful." His position is accurate. JH observed it from the Cape and noted "vF, R, 25"." Both Herschels missed nearby NGC 1957.

400/500mm - 17.5" (12/3/88): faint, small, slightly elongated, bright core, faint stellar nucleus. A mag 13.5 star is off the northwest edge 1.3' from center. Forms a pair with NGC 1957 5' SSE.

600/800mm - 24" (12/28/16): at 225x; moderately bright and large, sharply concentrated with small, very bright core ~20"x15" N-S. The core is surrounded by a low surface brightness halo without a well defined edge but roughly 1.25' diameter. A mag 13 star is superimposed 45" N of center and a mag 13.8 star is 1.3' NW (outside the halo).

NGC 1954 is the brightest in a trio (HDCE 361) at a distance of ~150 million years with NGC 1957 4.5' SSE and IC 2132 9.5' NNW. The three galaxies are nearly collinear.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb