William Herschel discovered NGC 2545 = H II-627 = h494 on 11 Jan 1787 (sweep 683) and noted "eF, pS, E." The same sweep he observed Uranus and discovered the moons Titania and Oberon. On 13 Feb 1787 (sweep 698) he recorded "F, S, irr F, lE sp to nf." There is nothing at his position but 30 sec of RA preceding and 4' north is UGC 4287. In the 1912 publication of WH's catalogues, Dreyer added the note "RA by Sweep 683 29 seconds too great, PD 3.5' too great. But in the interval between the star and the neb, H. had discovered two satellites of Uranus, whereby the telescope may have been slightly disturbed."

300/350mm - 13.1" (1/11/86): moderately bright, fairly small, almost round, gradually increases to a small brighter core. A mag 14.5 star at the NNW edge 1.0' from center is similar to the substellar nucleus. Located 3.9' ESE of a mag 9.5 star at the west edge of the Cancer I galaxy cluster.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb