Lewis Swift discovered NGC 6461 = Sw. V-77 on 18 Sep 1884 and recorded "eF; pS; R; nr terminal * of 5 forming semi-circle." There is nothing near his position. The nearest galaxy is CGCG 339-054 = PGC 60631, which is 1.6 minutes of RA west and 7' north of his position (10' separation). But this galaxy doesn't fit Swift's star field comments. Bigourdan's position for NGC 6461 measured on 13 Aug 1888 applies to a double star. The CGCG, RNGC and PGC (and secondary sources such as Megastar) misidentify PGC 60631 as NGC 6461.

Harold Corwin identifies UGC 10954 as NGC 6461. This galaxy is situated at the northeast end of a loop of 5 stars forming a semi-circle, matching his description. This galaxy is 38' north of Swift's position and 12 seconds of RA west.

400/500mm - 18" (8/12/07): faint, small, slightly elongated SSW-NNE, ~20"x16". Located 1.4' NW of a mag 10.5 star. NGC 6461 is incorrectly identified as CGCG 340-015 in the CGCG and PGC.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb