William Herschel discovered NGC 7448 = H II-251 = h2199 on 16 Oct 1784 (sweep 294) and recorded "pB, cL, E, r." On his sweep 11, JH logged "pB; L; vgbM; E pos 85° np to sf." His mean position is accurate. Ralph Copeland commented it was "slightly concave towards p side" in a 1873 observation at Birr Castle. Christian Peters also measured an accurate position.

200/250mm - 8" (9/25/81): faint, small, elongated. NGC 7454 is located 29' NNE.

300/350mm - 13.1" (9/22/84): fairly bright, broad moderate concentration, thin fainter extensions NNW-SSE. Does not contain a well-defined nucleus.

400/500mm - 17.5" (9/19/87 and 9/14/85): bright, large, elongated 2:1 NNW-SSE, small bright core, fainter extensions. Brightest in the NGC 7448 group.

900/1200mm - 48" (10/26/16 and 10/28/2019): at 610x; very bright, large, elongated ~2:1 N-S, 2'x1', interesting structure with knots. The central portion is brighter along the major axis like a weak bar and in the center is a small, very bright nucleus. A bright, prominent knot, 10"-12" diameter, is just west of the northern tip of the galaxy and a weak knot is close east [by ~15"]. The northern half of the galaxy is generally brighter with a slightly mottled surface. The galaxy has a weak enhancement along the southwest edge of the halo [spiral arm] and a fairly faint knot is on the southeast side [40" SE of center]. Overall, the southern part of the halo has a lower, more uniform surface brightness.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb