John Herschel discovered NGC 45 = h 2313 on 11 Nov 1835 and logged "extremely faint; large; round; very gradually very little brighter in the middle; attached to and nearly involving a large star; the following of two. A very faint object of singular appearance, 3 or 4' diameter; forms a kind of cometic appendage to the star, which, however, is quite at the edge." His position is 9 sec of RA west of ESO 473-001 (error corrected by Herbert Howe in 1900).

300/350mm - 13.1" (12/7/85): extremely faint, fairly large. A mag 7 star 4' WSW detracts from observation.

13.1" (8/24/84): only suspected at visual threshold. The nearby mag 7 star interferes with viewing.

400/500mm - 17.5" (8/2/86): faint, large, almost round, very diffuse. A mag 10 star (SAO 166133) is attached at the south end. Located 4' ENE of mag 6.9 HD 941. Both stars interfered with viewing!

NGC 45 is a low surface brightness, metal-poor spiral with a weak star formation rate. It resides in the background of the Sculptor Group at a distance of ~23 million l.y.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb