William Herschel discovered NGC 488 = H III-252 = h103 on 13 Dec 1784 (sweep 338) and recorded "vF, pL, iR, lbM." John Herschel gave a more detailed description on 24 Sep 1830 (sweep 300): "B; L; svmbM, and losing itself imperceptibly; resolvable in centre with 320x; *7m in parallel 1 min following." The NGC position is accurate.

400/500mm - 17.5" (11/1/86): bright, large, very bright core, oval 4:3 ~N-S. A mag 11 star is at the south edge just 1.6' SSE of center and a mag 10 star lies 3' SW. Located 9' W of mag 8.3 SAO 109832. In a group with NGC 490 8' NE, NGC 488 5.5' N and NGC 500 18' NE.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb