The second Index Catalog lists a corrected RA (per Howe) of 02 31 37 and adds "the 2 stars to the west are of only 11th to 12th magnitude".

Per Dreyer, NGC 1039 (= Messier 34, 1860 RA 02 33 02, NPD 47 49.4) is "cluster, bright, very large, slightly compressed, scattered 9th-magnitude stars". (Note: See the discussion of Hodierna for an explanation of why he was not credited with the discovery of this object.) The position precesses to RA 02 42 01.0, Dec +42 46 45, about 2 arcmin southwest of the center of the cluster, but in comparison to its apparent size of 35 arcmin, essentially dead center; so the identification is certain. M34 consists of a hundred or so stars formed at the same time, about 200 million years ago. At its distance of about 1400 light years, apparent size corresponds to a 15 light year diameter . An easy object to observe with binoculars or a small telescope, M34 will gradually disintegrate as it moves around the galaxy, due to the gravitational effects of passing stars and star clusters. More massive clusters can survive such interactions for long periods of time, but small ones, like M34, don't last more than a few hundred million years, as a cluster. However, its stars will continue to live out their lives, unaffected by the loss of their siblings.