George Johnstone Stoney, Lord Rosse's assistant, discovered NGC 1683 in Jan 1850. It was found while examining the NGC 1684 field and labeled as "Gamma" on his sketch. The NGC position is just 1.7' too far east.

400/500mm - 17.5" (12/23/89): extremely faint, very small, low even surface brightness. Among an elongated group of mag 14 stars including a wide pair 1.5' W and a wide pair 2' NW. Located 5' N of NGC 1682 and faintest in a group of four including NGC 1684 and NGC 1685.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb