John Herschel discovered NGC 438 = h2393 on 1 Sep 1834. On one sweep he called this nebula "vF" and another time "pB". His mean position matches ESO 296-007 = PGC 4406.

400/500mm - 17.5" (10/4/97): faint, fairly small, round, 40" diameter, weak even concentration. Situated just following the midpoint of two mag 13 stars 3.1' SSE and 2.8' NNE. NGC 424 lies 27' SW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb