E.E. Barnard probably discovered UGC 1651 on 5 Sep 1890 with the 12-inch refractor at Lick Observatory. He noted "small, faint, 2 stars follow. A 3rd mag star 45' south." He later added the note "Beta Triang?" and used his offset to compute a position just 3.6' south of UGC 1651.

600/800mm - 24" (12/12/17): at 375x; fairly faint, moderately large, roundish, well concentrated with a small bright core, very diffuse halo fades into background, at least 45" diameter. An extremely faint companion (PGC 8248) was occasionally visible at the east edge of the halo [43" from center in PA 107?]. It was quasi-stellar, perhaps 6" diameter. CGCG 522-122, located 6' SE, appeared fairly faint, small, round, 20" diameter, even surface brightness. . A mag 10.2 star lies 5' E of UGC 1651.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb