Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 650 (= Méchain, Messier 76, 1860 RA 01 33 31, NPD 39 08.3) is "very bright, western of double nebula", the other portion being NGC 651. The position precesses to RA 01 42 17.7, Dec +51 34 16, which is exactly on the southwestern portion of the nebula, so the identification is certain. (There is no doubt that what Méchain and Messier observed was the entire nebula; but see NGC 651 for a discussion of the double listing.)
Discovery Notes: This is one of many Messier objects for which Messier was not the discoverer, but merely a recorder of discoveries by others; Méchain was not only a colleague but also a close friend, and one of Messier's most frequent contributors.
PGC Designation Note: For purposes of completeness, even though NGC 650 is part of a planetary nebula, LEDA assigns it a PGC designation; but a search of the database for that designation returns no result, so it is shown in quotes.
P-K Designation Note: The Perek-Kohoutek designation applies to both parts of the Little Dumbbell Nebula, namely NGC 650 and 651.
Physical Information: Apparent size 3.12 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 651 (= GC 386 = WH I 193, 1860 RA 01 33 34, NPD 39 07.7) is "very bright, eastern of double nebula", the other portion being NGC 650. The position precesses to RA 01 42 20.8, Dec +51 34 52, which is exactly on the northeastern portion of the nebula, so the identification is certain. There is no doubt that what Méchain and Messier observed was the entire nebula; but Herschel noticed that the nebula consisted of two brighter regions slightly separated by a fainter middle, hence Dreyer's assignment of two numbers to the object. Since it is a "bipolar" planetary nebula, that isn't entirely unreasonable, but normally such an object would be given only a single listing, so it is a little confusing, particularly when the normal way of describing the situation is to say that NGC 650 = NGC 651. A more accurate way, as used here, is to keep the two listings separate but say that M76 consists of both NGC objects (as is the case for several other extended Messier objects).
Discovery Notes: As noted at NGC 650 (which see for images of the "pair"), this is one of many Messier objects for which Messier was not the discoverer, but merely a recorder of discoveries by others.
PGC Designation Note: For purposes of completeness, even though NGC 651 is part of a planetary nebula, LEDA assigns it a PGC number; but a search of the database for that number returns no result, so the designation is shown in quotes.
P-K Designation Note: The Perek-Kohoutek designation applies to both parts of the Little Dumbbell Nebula, namely NGC 650 and 651.
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.08 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 652 (Swift list V (#15), 1860 RA 01 33 37, NPD 82 43.8) s "most extremely faint, pretty small, round, very difficult".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.0 by 0.6 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 653 (Stephan list XIII (#11), 1860 RA 01 34 21, NPD 55 04.2) is "very faint, pretty large, much extended, a little brighter middle, several faint stars involved".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.5 by 0.2 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 654 (= GC 387 = JH 145 = WH VII 46, (Caroline Herschel), 1860 RA 01 34 28, NPD 28 49.3) is "a cluster, irregular figure, rich, one magnitude 6 or 7 star, stars from 11th to 14th magnitude".
Discovery Notes: (Need to add information about Caroline Herschel's observation.)
Physical Information: Apparent size 6.0 arcmin?.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 654 (O Stone list I (#35), 1860 RA 01 34 30, NPD 103 45.2) is "extremely faint, extremely small, gradually brighter middle and nucleus". The second Index Catalog lists a corrected RA (per Howe) of 01 35 03.
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.4 by 0.9 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 656 (= GC 5193, d'Arrest, 1860 RA 01 34 39, NPD 64 33.9) is "faint, very small, round, mottled but not resolved?".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.5 by 1.3 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 657 (= GC 388 = JH 146, 1860 RA 01 34 42, NPD 34 49.9) is "a cluster, pretty rich, 12th magnitude stars".
Physical Information: A widely scattered group of moderately bright stars covering most of the area shown in the image below (not just the small clump at the center of the image). Apparent size 7.0 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 658 (Stephan list XI (#1), Swift list II (#??), 1860 RA 01 34 42, NPD 78 06.4) is "pretty faint, pretty small, much extended, much brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 3.0 by 1.6 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 659 (= GC 389 = WH VIII 65, Caroline Herschel, 1860 RA 01 34 45, NPD 30 00.6) is "a cluster, a little rich, bright stars".
Discovery Notes: Dreyer credits both William and Caroline Herschel with observations of this object, but Steinicke only lists William; will find out why by the next iteration of this page.
Physical Information: Apparent size 6.0 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 660 (= GC 390 = WH II 253, 1860 RA 01 35 34, NPD 77 03.8) is "pretty bright, pretty large, extended, brighter middle, mottled but not resolved".
Physical Information: Apparent size 8.3 by 3.2 arcmin? A Seyfert galaxy (type Sy 2), and a polar ring galaxy.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 661 (= GC 391 = JH 147 = WH II 610, 1860 RA 01 36 21, NPD 62 01.4) is "faint, small, round, brighter middle, mottled but not resolved".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.6 by 1.3 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 662 (Stephan list XIII (#12), 1860 RA 01 36 24, NPD 53 00.6) is "faint, small, round, much brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.8 by 0.5 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 663 (= GC 392 = WH VI 31, 1860 RA 01 36 29, NPD 29 27.7) is "a cluster, bright, large, extremely rich, pretty large (bright) stars".
Discovery Notes: Dreyer credits only William Herschel with an observation of this object, but Steinicke also lists Caroline; will find out why by the next iteration of this page.
Note About PGC Designation: As is true of almost all NGC/IC objects, HyperLEDA assigned a PGC Designation to this object, even though it isn't a galaxy; but as in most such cases, a search for that designation returns no result, hence its being placed in quotes.
Physical Information: Apparent size 15 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 664 (= GC 393 = JH 148, 1860 RA 01 36 30, NPD 86 28.6) is "very faint, small, round".
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.8 by 0.5 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 665 (= GC 394 = WH II 588, d'Arrest, 1860 RA 01 37 31, NPD 80 17.2) is "faint, small, a little extended, brighter middle, mottled but not resolved".
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.4 by 1.6 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 666 (Stephan list XIII (#13), 1860 RA 01 38 02, NPD 56 19.7) is "very faint star in extremely faint, extremely small nebulosity".
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.7 by 0.5 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 667 (Muller list II (#318), 1860 RA 01 38 05, NPD 113 39.1) is "extremely faint, small, round, 10th magnitude star 100 arcsec to northwest". The second Index Catalog lists a corrected RA (per Howe) of 01 38 21.
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.6 by 0.5 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 668 (Stephan list XI (#2), 1860 RA 01 38 13, NPD 54 14.5) is "pretty faint, pretty small, round, gradually brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.8 by 1.2 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 669 (Stephan list XIII (#14), 1860 RA 01 39 09, NPD 55 08.4) is "pretty faint, pretty large, much extended, gradually brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 3.1 by 0.6 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 670 (= GC 395 = JH 149 = WH II 611, 1860 RA 01 39 32, NPD 62 49.0) is "faint, small, a little extended".
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.1 by 0.9 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 671 (Swift list II (#14), 1860 RA 01 39 50, NPD 77 35.0) is "extremely faint, pretty small, round, between star and double star". The second Index Catalog lists a corrected RA (per Howe) of 01 39 31.
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.5 by 0.5 arcmin? A Seyfert galaxy (type Sy 2).

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 672 (= GC 396 = JH 150 = WH I 157, 1860 RA 01 40 00, NPD 63 16.1) is "faint, pretty large, much extended 80°".
Physical Information: Just under 20 million light years away. Apparent size 6.0 by 2.4 arcmin? A physical pair with IC 1727, which may be less than 90 thousand light years from its companion.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 673 (= GC 397 = WH II 589, d'Arrest, 1860 RA 01 40 58, NPD 79 10.4) is "pretty faint, pretty large, extended, a little brighter middle, 11th magnitude star 3 arcmin to northeast".
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.1 by 1.7 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 674 (= GC 398, d'Arrest, 1860 RA 01 41 29, NPD 68 21.3) is "pretty bright, very much extended, 14th magntude star 8 seconds of time to east".
Discovery Notes: Apparently originally(?) known as NGC 697, and only later identified as a duplicate of NGC 674; but since the lower number usually trumps the higher, now generally called NGC 674
Physical Information: Apparent size 4.0 by 1.3 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 675 (Swift list V (#17), 1860 RA 01 41 35, NPD 77 38.6) is "very faint, small, round, a little brighter middle, southwestern of 2", the other being NGC 677.
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.0 by 0.4 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 676 (= GC 400 = JH 151 = WH IV 42, 1860 RA 01 41 38, NPD 84 47.2) is "very faint, extended 161°, suddenly brighter middle equivalent to 9th magnitude star", and in the images below it appears that there be a star of some brightness almost exactly superimposed on the nucleus of the galaxy.
Physical Information: Apparent size 4.0 by 1.0 arcmin? Listed as a Seyfert galaxy (type Sy 2).

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 677 (Swift list V (#16), 1860 RA 01 41 40, NPD 77 38.4) is "most extremely faint, small, round, northeastern of 2", the other being NGC 675.
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.0 by 2.0 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 678 (= GC 399 = WH II 228, 1860 RA 01 41 42, NPD 68 42.0) is "pretty bright, small, irregularly round, much brighter middle, western of 2", the other being NGC 680.
Physical Information: Apparent size 4.5 by 0.8 arcmin? Used by de Vaucouleurs as an example of galaxy type Sa sp.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 679 (= GC 401 = WH III 175, 1860 RA 01 41 51, NPD 54 53.9) is "faint, stellar".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.9 by 1.9 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 680 (= GC 402 = WH II 229, 1860 RA 01 42 04, NPD 68 43.5) is "pretty bright, small, irregularly round, much brighter middle, eastern of 2", the other being NGC 678.
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.8 by 1.6 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 681 (= GC 404 = JH 2436 = WH II 481, 1860 RA 01 42 15, NPD 101 07.3) is "pretty faint, considerably large, round, gradually a little brighter middle, small (faint) star 90 arcsec to west".
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.7 by 1.8 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 682 (= GC 406 = JH 154 = WH II 501, 1860 RA 01 42 18, NPD 105 39.9) is "considerably faint, small, round, gradually very little brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.4 by 1.1 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 683 (= GC 405 = JH 153, 1860 RA 01 42 20, NPD 79 00.6) is "extremely faint, two 14th magnitude stars 90 arcsec to west".
Physical Information: Apparent size of 0.9 by 0.75 arcmin (from images below)

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 684 (= GC 403 = JH 152 = WH II 612, d'Arrest, Schultz, 1860 RA 01 42 21, NPD 63 03.1) is "faint, very little extended, 13th magnitude star 100 arcsec to east". (See IC 165 for a discussion of the double listing.)
Physical Information: Based on a recessional velocity of 3535 km/sec, NGC 684 is about 165 million light years away, in reasonable agreement with redshift-independent distance estimates of 125 to 155 million light years. Given that and its apparent size of 3.2 by 0.6 arcmin(?), it is about 150 thousand light years across.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 685 (= GC 407 = JH 2438, 1860 RA 01 42 21, NPD 143 29.1) is "faint, very large, round, very gradually very little brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 3.6 by 3.1 arcmin? Used by de Vaucouleurs as an example of galaxy type SB(rs)cd.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 686 (= GC 408 = JH 155 = JH 2437 = WH III 459, 1860 RA 01 42 21, NPD 114 29.5) is "very faint, very small, round, gradually brighter middle, extremely mottled but not resolved, 2 stars near".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.7 by 1.4 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 687 (= GC 409 = WH III 561, 1860 RA 01 42 26, NPD 54 21.9) is "very faint, stellar".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.4 by 1.4 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 688 (= GC 5194, d'Arrest, 1860 RA 01 42 35, NPD 55 24.4) is "very faint, very small, mottled but not resolved?".
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.4 by 1.5 arcmin? A starburst galaxy. (Note: Many sites that purport to discuss NGC 688 actually discuss NGC 6888, the Crescent Nebula; so an internet search for NGC 688 can lead to many dead ends.)

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 689 (Ormond Stone list I (#36), 1860 RA 01 42 35, NPD 118 07.0) is "very faint, pretty large, round, gradually brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.0 by 0.6 arcmin? (How anyone could determine a detailed galaxy type such as that listed above from the poor images shown below is beyond me, so there must be better images somewhere; but as of this writing I haven't been able to find them.)

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 690 (Leavenworth list I (#37), 1860 RA 01 42 35, NPD 107 26.0) is "very faint, very small, round, a little brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.2 by 0.8 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 691 (= GC 410 = WH II 617, 1860 RA 01 42 56, NPD 68 56.9) is "faint, considerably large, very gradually a little brighter middle". The position precesses to RA 01 50 39.2, Dec +21 44 53, only 0.9 arcmin southwest of the center of the galaxy listed above (and within its outer arms as seen in photographs), the description fits and there is nothing nearby, so the identification is certain.
Physical Information: Based on a recessional velocity relative to the Cosmic Microwave Background of 2385 km/sec (and H₀ = 70 km/sec/Mpc), NGC 691 is about 110 million light years away, in good agreement with redshift-independent distance estimates of about 75 to 130 million light years (the HST press release uses an estimate of 120 million light years). Given that and its apparent size of about 3.35 by 2.35 arcmin (from the images below), the galaxy is about 105 to 110 thousand light years across. It is the namesake of the NGC 691 group of galaxies, generally listed as consisting of NGC 678, NGC 680, IC 1730, NGC 691, IC 167, NGC 694, NGC 695 (but see for caveat) and NGC 697.
Note About HST Images: It is possible that the two HST images, released in 2020 and 2021, are from the same original image, and the second one was simply reprocessed by Mr. Zamani, using a better way to bring out faint details; but there is nothing in the 2021 press release to say whether this is the case or not. In any event, since the first one shows more of the galaxy, but the second one shows it off better, I felt it best to show both of them.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 692 (= GC 411 = JH 2439, 1860 RA 01 43 02, NPD 139 20.0) is "bright, small, round, gradually brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.1 by 1.8 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 693 (= GC 412 = JH 156 = WH II 859, 1860 RA 01 43 13, NPD 84 33.1) is "pretty faint, small, extended 90°, very gradually a little brighter middle, 10th magnitude star to northeast".
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.2 by 1.1 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 694 (= GC 413, d'Arrest, 1860 RA 01 43 13, NPD 68 42.3) is "faint, small, round, between two 15th magnitude stars". The position precesses to RA 01 50 56.7, Dec +21 59 27, only half an arcmin southwest of the galay listed above, the description fits and there is nothing comparable nearby so the identification is certain.
Physical Information: Based on a recessional velocity of 2950 km/sec (and H₀ = 70 km/sec/Mpc), NGC 694 is about 135 to 140 million light years away, well beyond redshift-independent distance estimates of about 80 to 85 and 90 to 95 million light years. Given that and its apparent size of about 0.5 by 0.35 arcmin (from the images below; also see note below), it is about 20 thousand light years across. NGC 694 is listed as a starburst galaxy, and since it has nearly the same recessional velocity and distance as IC 167 (= Arp 31), they may be physical companions (in any event, NGC 694 may well be the "High surface brightness irregularity" 5 arcmin north of Arp 31).
Note About Apparent Size: NED lists an apparent size of about 3.8 by 2.5 arcmin, which is far too large, so I can't help but wonder how much that value was influenced by earlier size estimates that NED specifically states must be wrong. LEDA, on the other hand, lists a size of less than 0.6 arcmin, which is much closer to the correct value.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 695 (= GC 414 = WH II 618, 1860 RA 01 43 29, NPD 68 07.9) is "very small, stellar".
Note About "Membership" In NGC 691 Group: Although generally listed as part of the NGC 691 Group, NGC 695 is not a member of the group, being merely a background galaxy. This is a very common problem with groups of galaxies, and even with mere pairs and triplets, as listings of such groups are almost always based only on apparent proximity in the sky, and unless recessional velocities or redshift-independent distance estimates are taken into account, whether the galaxies are actually close or merely in the same direction is either unknown or ignored. As another example, the Shapley-Ames list of members of the Virgo Cluster contains dozens of galaxies that have nothing to do with the Cluster, but are merely in the same part of the sky as the actual Cluster.
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.8 by 0.7 arcmin? Given its exceptionally bright nucleus, perhaps a starburst galaxy.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 696 (= GC 415 = JH 2440, 1860 RA 01 43 33, NPD 125 38.9) is "faint, small, round".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.7 by 0.6 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 697 (= GC 416 = WH III 179, 1860 RA 01 43 36, NPD 68 20.2) is "faint, considerably large, extended, much brighter middle".
Physical Information: Given the duplicate entry, see NGC 674 for anything else.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 698 (= GC 417 = JH 2441, 1860 RA 01 43 42, NPD 125 34.1) is "extremely faint, small".
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.9 by 0.8 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 699 (Muller list II (#319), 1860 RA 01 43 56, NPD 102 44.0) is "extremely faint, pretty small, extended 105°, brighter on northwest, curved".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.6 by 0.3 arcmin?