Albert Marth discovered NGC 825 = m 53 on 18 Nov 1863 with Lassell's 48" on Malta and noted "F, S, mE.". His position is 1.5' S of UGC 1636 = PGC 8173 and the description "much elongated" applies to this edge-on. Marth missed fainter IC 208, just 5' N.

400/500mm - 17.5" (12/18/89): faint, fairly small, oval SW-NE. A mag 13.5 star is 1.7' N. Located 5.5' WNW of mag 9.3 SAO 110366.

600/800mm - 24" (1/25/14): moderately bright, fairly small, very elongated 5:1 SW-NE, ~0.7'x0.15', brighter elongated core. An extremely faint star (mag 16.3) is just north of center. A mag 13.5 star lies 1.7' NNE.

NGC 825 forms a pair with IC 208 4.5' NNW. The companion (similar redshift) appeared fairly faint, fairly large, round, 1.5' diameter, very low though irregular surface brightness, no core or nucleus. Brightest member of a group that includes IC 1776, UGC 1646 and UGC 1649.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb