John Herschel discovered NGC 254 = h2347 on 28 Sep 1834 and logged "vB, R, gmbM, 40", has a star 8th mag 5' distant." His position is accurate.

300/350mm - 13.1" (9/22/84): fairly bright, small, elongated ~E-W, small bright nucleus. Located 5' SW of a mag 8 star.

400/500mm - 17.5" (12/3/88): moderately bright, fairly small, elongated 2:1 NW-SE, very bright core, stellar nucleus. Located 5' SW of mag 7.1 SAO 192746.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb