William Herschel discovered NGC 5691 = H II-681 = h1847 on 11 Apr 1787 (sweep 727) and logged "pB, pL, iF." JH made the single observation "pB; gbM; lE." d'Arrest made three observations and measured an accurate position. NGC 5632, discovered by George Bond at Harvard in 1853, is a duplicate observation. See that number.

200/250mm - 8" (6/29/84): faint, very small, slightly elongated WNW-ESE, very small brighter core.

400/500mm - 17.5" (6/8/91): fairly faint, fairly small, 1.2'x0.8', elongated 3:2 WNW-ESE, weak concentration. Sharper light cut-off on the south side.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb