William Herschel discovered NGC 273 = H III-430 on 10 Sep 1785 (sweep 435) and noted "vF, vS. This precedes the former [NGC 274]". The NGC position from Wilhelm Tempel is accurate.

400/500mm - 17.5" (10/13/90): fairly faint, small, elongated 2:1 E-W. A mag 14 star is off the NW edge, 42" from center. NGC 272/274, a contact pair of galaxies, lies 11' SSE.

600/800mm - 24" (10/5/13): moderately bright and large, very elongated 3:1 WNW-ESE, ~48"x16". Contains a very small brighter core. A mag 14 star is off the NW edge by ~20". NGC 272/274 = Arp 140 lies 11' SSE.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb