DeLisle Stewart discovered IC 1655 = D.S. 147 = D 59? on a photographic plate taken on 27 Nov 1900 at Harvard's station in Arequipa, Peru. He simply noted "eF, vS, close cl." James Dunlop possibly discovered the cluster on 6 Sep 1826 with his 9" reflector from Paramatta and noted "a very small faint nebula, about 10" diameter." Dunlop's position from a single observation is 11' southeast of this cluster, about halfway to NGC 458, which may be Dunlop 60. But based on my observation, I believe this cluster is too faint to have been seen by Dunlop.

600/800mm - 30" (11/6/10 - Coonabarabran, 264x): fairly faint, fairly small, soft round glow with an even surface brightness, 40" diameter. Hodge-Wright (HW) 64 lies 5.5' W. IC 1655 is located 19' NW of NGC 458.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb