Lewis Swift discovered NGC 6390 = Sw. I-62, along with NGC 6381, on 7 Jul 1885 and recorded "eeeF; cE; ee diff; one of my minima visible." There is nothing at his position, but 6' south is UGC 10881, a faint edge-on that fits his description. Edward Fath suggested this galaxy was probably NGC 6390 in his 1914 paper "A Study of Nebulae", based on plates taken at Mt. Wilson in 1909-12. MCG gives the NGC designation as uncertain.

400/500mm - 17.5" (6/18/88): faint, moderately large, edge-on N-S, low even surface brightness. Second of three in a string with CGCG 300-036 4' W and CGCG 300-042 (not seen) 4' E. CGCG 300-036 appeared very faint, extremely small, round, faint stellar nucleus.

600/800mm - 24" (7/2/16): at 225x and 375x; fairly faint to moderately bright, moderately large, edge-on 4:1 N-S, 0.8'x0.2', broad weak concentration, no distinct core. Brightest in a linear triplet with CGCG 300-036 4.4' W and CGCG 300-042 4.2' E. Located 20' ENE of mag 5.7 HD 158460.

NGC 6381 is 10' SW (close pair with UGC 10870) and UGC 10888 is 19' NE. At 375x, the latter galaxy appeared fairly faint, slightly elongated NW-SE, contains a small bright nucleus. The halo, initially 0.4' diameter, increases with averted vision to ~40"x30".

24" (7/15/15): fairly faint to moderately bright, moderately large, very elongated 3:1 or 7:2 N-S, 0.9'x0.3', broad concentration but no sharp zones. Brightest and middle of three in an east-west line with CGCG 300-036 4.5' W and CGCG 300-042 4.2' E. NGC 6381 lies 10' SW.

CGCG 300-036 (V = 14.4) was fairly faint, fairly small, round, 20" diameter, gradually increases to the center. CGCG 300-042 (V = 15.2) appeared faint to fairly faint, fairly small, round, 18" diameter, low even surface brightness.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb