William Herschel discovered NGC 251 = H III-204 = h58 on 15 Oct 1784 (sweep 291) and reported "vF, S, s.p. 2 vS stars, a third star in it but not in the center, and I suppose is not connected with it. 240 verified it." On 13 Nov 1786 (sweep 635) he logged "vF, S, lbM, just preceding two stars are in the same meridian." John Herschel recorded "vF; R; follows a *6.7 40s and is 1.5' north of it. It is near 2 v s st. If this be III 204, my father polar distance is 5' wrong."

400/500mm - 17.5" (10/20/90): fairly faint, fairly small, oval 3:2 E-W, weak concentration. Enclosed by a small group of four mag 12-14.5 stars including a mag 12.5 star (close double) just 0.7' E. Located 9.5' E of 59 Piscium (V = 6.1).

600/800mm - 24" (11/21/19): at 322x; nearly moderately bright, moderately large, slightly elongated E-W, moderate concentration with a bright core and faint halo that extends over 1'. The surface brightness seemed irregular like a face-on spiral (it is) and the periphery varied with averted vision. A mag 12.5 star is 1' NE of center and a 3.5" pair of mag 14.5 stars is just off the E edge. Located 10' E of mag 6.1 59 Psc.

UGC 477, located 25' WSW, is a challenging edge-on. At 200x and 322x it was very faint, moderately large, very low surface brightness streak ~N-S with only a slightly brighter core region, ~1.5'x0.3'.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb