William Herschel discovered NGC 7469 = H III-230 = h2204 on 12 Nov 1784 (sweep 313) and noted "eF, eS, but 240 left a doubt." He found it again on 26 Sep 1785 (sweep 442) and logged "suspected a small irregular patch with seeming nebulosity." He didn't link the second observation with the first or assign it an internal discovery number. JH made the single observation "F; S; R; vsmbM; equals a star 12m with a vF wisp about it. At first seems like a star." The RA in the RNGC is 1.0 minute too large. NGC 7469 is one of the 6 original Sy 1 galaxies studied by Seyfert in his seminal 1943 paper "Nuclear Emission in Spiral Nebulae".

300/350mm - 13" (11/13/82): moderately bright, small, round, small bright nucleus surrounded by small diffuse halo. The nucleus dominates the galaxy. Located along the west side of three mag 9-10 stars.

400/500mm - 17.5" (11/1/86): sharp, bright stellar nucleus (Sy 1 galaxy) surrounded by a small faint halo. A faint star is just east. Forms a close pair (Arp 298) with IC 5283 1.3' NNE. Located at the western vertex of a triangle with mag 8.5 SAO 127930 5.4' SE and mag 8.4 SAO 27929 6.3' NE. This is a Seyfert galaxy with a variable nucleus. IC 5283 is a very faint glow, small, round, diffuse, with an even surface brightness.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb