William Herschel discovered NGC 6251 = H III-974, along with NGC 6252, on 1 Jan 1802 (late sweep 1106) and recorded "Two, the preceding [NGC 6251] cF, S, bM. The following NGC 6252] vF, vS. The place is that of the first. The 2nd is about 3' more north, and only a few seconds of time following, they being nearly in the same meridian." His description is accurate, though his position is 2.8' too far north. This is the second most northerly galaxy that WH discovered. It wasn't until the later sweeps that the large 20-ft was used to search for nebulae near the pole as it was mechanically difficult to observe and accurately record positions in that direction.

400/500mm - 17.5" (8/1/86): fairly faint, fairly small, round. Contains a sharp, bright core which rises to a bright stellar nucleus. Pair with NGC 6252 2.4' NNE.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb