James Dunlop discovered IC 4651= D 402 on 28 Jul 1826 and described "a very fine round cluster of very small stars, slightly compressed to the centre, about 8' diameter." His position is on the south side of the cluster, so the identification is certain.

Solon Bailey rediscovered the cluster on a photographic plate in 1896 using a 1" lens at the Arequipa station. The discovery was reported in "A Catalogue of Bright Clusters and Nebulae" (Annals of Harvard College Observatory, Vol LX, No. VIII, 1908). Bailey was credited with the discovery in the IC as John Herschel didn't confirm Dunlop's observation.

200/250mm - 11" (8/8/04 - Haleakala Crater): IC 4651 was first noticed in my 10x30 IS binoculars while looking at NGC 6352. It was seen as an obvious knot 1.5° to the south. At 127x, I was surprised to find a beautifully rich open cluster with over 100 stars mag 10-13.5 in at least a 15' field. The stars are fairly uniform in distribution with a weak central concentration, though several form loops and chains surrounding blank regions. The brightest star (mag 8.9 K3-type) is on the east side. This is an intermediate-age cluster between 1-2 billion years old. Located 1° west of mag 2.8 Alpha Arae.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb