Andrew Cooper
Aug 10, 2024    Waikoloa, HI (map)
20cm f/6 Newtonian, Cave Astrola @ 45x
Seeing: 6 Transparency: 6 Moon: 0%

Pale orange, the 12th magnitude star visble 1' north is a listed companion, in a field as rich as this a true relationship seems suspect, 25' north of NGC 869 in a very rich galactic starfield

WDS lists four companions, the 0.3" pair BC, D, and E, checking Gaia EDR3 data reveals BC has a dramatically different proper motion, D likewise does not share parallax or proper motion, and E is clearly a distant background star

Captain William Henry Smyth
Oct 27, 1835    No. 6 The Crescent, Bedford, England (map)
150mm f/17.6 refractor by Tully 1827

A coarse triple star, in the weapon hand of Perseus. A 6½, yellow; B 12, bluish; C 9½, greenish. An imaginary line projected from δ Cassiopeæ to α Persei, will pass just below χ, at one-third of the distance. This is a multiple object, among rich fields, where the intermixture of greater and less individuals renders the vicinity very favourable for testing the light and definition of a telescope.

― A Cycle of Celestial Objects Vol II, The Bedford Catalogue, William Henry Smyth, 1844