John Herschel discovered NGC 6453 = h3708 on 8 Jun 1837 and recorded "a highly condensed nebulous mass, 3' diam, or an irreg R neb; pmbM; resolvable." His RA was 28 seconds too large, but it was reported as rounded to the nearest minute (marked as +/-) and the description fits.

200/250mm - 8" faint, small, diffuse. Located NW of M7 in the field.

400/500mm - 17.5" (7/4/86): at 220x appears very faint, small, very mottled. A few stars are resolved at the edges (possibly foreground stars). Located beyond the NW edge of M7 about 40' from the center. Open cluster NGC 6444 lies 20' SW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb