William Herschel discovered NGC 1620 = H II-514 = h321 on 1 Jan 1786 (sweep 506) and logged "F or vF, pL, E from sp-nf, about 2' long, 1' broad." He published a sketch in his 1811 paper (Fig. 8) as an illustration of "extended Nebulae." On 16 Dec 1827 (sweep 110), John Herschel logged, "vF; L; mE; 3' L; 90" br; vlbM."

400/500mm - 17.5" (1/23/93): moderately bright, moderately large, very elongated 7:2 SSW-NNE, 3.0'x0.8', only a weak concentration but has an irregular surface brightness and mottled appearance. A mag 14 star is at the NNE tip. Located 4.6' WSW of mag 8.9 SAO 131350.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb