Albert Marth discovered NGC 6265 = m 321 = St II-7 on 28 Jun 1864 and noted "eF, vS." Truman Safford rediscovered this galaxy (along with NGC 6264 and 6269) on 11 Jul 1866 at the Dearborn Observatory. Édouard Stephan found it again on 22 Jul 1871. All three positions are good.

400/500mm - 17.5" (7/27/95): faint, small, slightly elongated 4:3 SSW-NNE, 40"x30", very faint stellar nucleus. A mag 11 star is 2.4' ENE. Located 6.4' W of NGC 6269 in a group. Forms a pair with NGC 6264 2.9' WNW.

17.5" (7/1/89): very faint, small, very low surface brightness, elongated SW-NE. Fourth of 8 in NGC 6269 group with NGC 6264 2.9' WNW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb