William Herschel discovered NGC 6015 = H III-739 on 2 Jun 1788 (sweep 844) and recorded "vF; R; about 3' diam; vgbM; easily resolvable." Dreyer also gives d'Arrest's summary description "B, mE" in the NGC as it differs so much from WH's. In the IC 1 Notes, Dreyer mentions that William Denning stated that d'Arrest's description was correct.

300/350mm - 13.1" (5/14/83): fairly faint, fairly large, elongated 2:1 SSW-NNE, 4.0'x1.8', diffuse, almost even surface brightness. Located 2.3' E of a mag 11 star. A mag 13.5 star is at the SSW end 1.9' from the center.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb