William Herschel discovered NGC 204 = h42 on 21 Dec 1786 (sweep 657) and noted "vF, vS, but I have not been out long enough, any may be a deception." His offset from NGC 193 clearly matches NGC 204, but he didn't assign it an H-designation and is uncredited in the GC and NGC.

JH independently discovered NGC 204 on 16 Oct 1827 and logged "pB; R; the following of 2 [with NGC 193]." His position (marked as uncertain) is between NGC 193 and 204. In the Slough Catalogue, JH mistakenly equated h42 with H III-595 (which applies to NGC 193).

400/500mm - 17.5" (10/8/88): faint, very small, slightly elongated, bright core, faint stellar nucleus. Located 4' ESE of a mag 9.5 star. Member of the NGC 182 group with NGC 193 7' WNW.

600/800mm - 24" (12/12/17): at 375x; moderately or fairly bright, fairly small, round, 25" diameter, well concentrated with a small bright core that mildly increases towards center. LEDA 1249738, situated 2.6' ENE, was very faint, round, only 10"-12" diameter, faint stellar nucleus. NGC 193 lies 6.6' WNW, beyond a mag 9.7 star.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb