This elongated spiral galaxy resides in western Perseus just across the border from Andromeda. 4.9 magnitude 12 Persei stands 1.2 degrees to the north-northeast. NGC 1023 is nearly centered in the sketch at left. At 129X in my 10-inch Newtonian, the SBO-type galaxy covers a 6'x2' area along an east-to-west axis. A stellar core is embedded within a 2' diameter brighter core region, which itself is surrounded by the fainter galactic disk. 7.8 magnitude HD 16386 is visible 19' to the west near the field boundary. Another 34 field stars complete the scene. NGC 1023 has a visual magnitude of 9.4 and a surface brightness of 21.3 magnitude per square arc second.