William Herschel discovered NGC 1605 = H VI-26 on 11 Dec 1786 (sweep 645) and recorded "A vF compressed cluster of extremely small stars, near 4' diameter". His position is just off the southeast end of the cluster.

400/500mm - 17.5" (1/23/93): at 220x this is a very faint cluster of 15 stars mag 13.5-14.5 in 4'-5' diameter. The resolved stars appear around the periphery forming an irregular oval outline. The central region is lacking in resolved stars but consists of unresolved haze. Mag 7.7 SAO 39630 is 10' ESE at the edge of the 220x field.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb