Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 5454 on 21 Apr 1865 with the 11-inch refractor at Copenhagen. His position (measured on two consecutive nights) is very accurate and he noted the two mag 10-11 stars that precede by 10 sec of time.

400/500mm - 17.5" (6/14/96): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 3:2 WNW-ESE, 0.8'x0.5'. Weak concentration with an occasional stellar nucleus. Following a nice matched pair of mag 10/11.5 stars.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb