Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 6223 on 24 Sep 1862, along with NGC 6226, with the 11-inch refractor at Copenhagen. His position (2 measures) is fairly accurate. Lewis Swift independently found this galaxy on 16 Aug 1885 and included it in list II-43 with description "pB, vS, R." His position is 10 seconds of RA too small.

400/500mm - 17.5" (6/18/88): moderately bright, fairly small, slightly elongated ~E-W, very bright core, faint halo. Contains a stellar nucleus with direct vision.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb