William Herschel discovered NGC 551 = H III-560 = h123 on 21 Sep 1786 (sweep 599) and noted "vF, S, E, among some stars." John Herschel reported "vF; E; vglbM; near a * 13m." (Oct. 1828). R.J. Mitchell observed this galaxy with the 72" on 18 Sep 1857 and recorded, "much elongated np-sf. Faint triple star following; at Alpha a vF * or neb. patch." Although the orientation of the sketch is not shown, at the position of Alpha there is just a very faint star.

400/500mm - 17.5" (12/23/89): fairly faint, fairly small, oval NW-SE, even surface brightness. A mag 13 star is at the NW end 1.1' from center. A close mag 14.5 double is just following the SE end.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb