John Herschel discovered NGC 97 = h18 on 16 Sep 1828 and recorded "F; R; g; bM; 15"." His position matches UGC 216 = PGC 1442.
400/500mm - 17.5" (10/17/87): fairly faint, small, round, bright core, stellar nucleus. A mag 15 star is 30" WSW and a mag 14 star 1.3' WNW.
Notes by Steve Gottlieb