William Herschel discovered NGC 271 = H II-446 = h67 on 1 Oct 1785 (sweep 448) and noted "F, S, E, milky; about 1 1/2' preceding a pB star." On 13 Dec 1786 (sweep 646) he noted "pB, R, mbM, about 1' sp a bright star." JH logged "Not vF; R; pslbM; 30"; a star 8-9m follows."

400/500mm - 17.5" (10/8/88): moderately bright, fairly small, elongated NW-SE, small bright core. Mag 8.4 SAO 128981 is off the SE edge 1.5' from the center.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb