Lewis Swift discovered NGC 6043 = Sw. IV-22 on 27 Jun 1886, along with several other members of the Hercules Galaxy Cluster. He recorded "eeF; lE; pS; 4th of 10." There is nothing at his exact position, but 13 seconds of time east is CGCG 108-109 = PGC 57019. Guillaume Bigourdan measured an accurate position in Jun 1888 (repeated in the IC 2 Notes).

300/350mm - 13.1" (5/14/83): extremely faint, small, round. First of four in a subgroup of AGC 2151. A mag 15 star is off the south side.

400/500mm - 17.5" (5/13/88): very faint, small, slightly elongated ~E-W, collinear with two stars to the south including a mag 13.5 star 1.8' S. First of three NGC galaxies on a line with NGC 6045 1.9' SE and NGC 6047 3.3' SSE. Also nearby are NGC 6050 5.3' ESE and NGC 6044 5.6' N. This is a double system (not resolved) in the central region of AGC 2151.

17.5" (3/23/85): first of three galaxies aligned NW to SE with NGC 6045 and NGC 6047 in the core of the Hercules Galaxy Cluster. Faint, very small, round, faint star off the south side (45").

600/800mm - 24" (6/4/16): at 322x; fairly faint to moderately bright, fairly small, slightly elongated, 20"x16", strong bright core. NGC 6045 is 1.9' SE. A mag 15 star is 0.8' SSW and a mag 13 star is 1.8' S. NGC 6045 is 1.9' SE.

900/1200mm - 48" (4/5/13): moderately bright, fairly small, slightly elongated SW-NE, 0.3'x0.2', small bright core. Located 1.9' NW of NGC 6045. I didn't look for the faint companion attached at the SW edge, but it should be visible.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb