William Herschel discovered NGC 257 = H II-863 on 29 Dec 1790 (sweep 991) and logged "pL, lE, gbM, resolvable." The NGC position is accurate.
400/500mm - 17.5" (10/8/88): fairly faint, moderately large, oval 3:2 ~E-W, weakly concentrated but no core.
Notes by Steve Gottlieb