William Herschel discovered NGC 6011 = H III-313 on 16 Mar 1785 (sweep 389) and logged "vF, vS, lE." His position is within 3' of UGC 10047. On 6 May 1791 (sweep 1005) he noted "vF, cS, E nearly in the parallel, just preceding a very small star." MCG doesn't label its entry as NGC 6011.

400/500mm - 17.5" (5/14/88): fairly faint, small, elongated 2:1 WNW-ESE, bright core. A mag 14 star is off the east edge [52" from the center].

Notes by Steve Gottlieb