William Herschel discovered NGC 6507 = H VIII-53 on 27 Jun 1786 (sweep 576) and recorded "a cluster of scattered small stars; about 8' diam; not very rich. His position is ~3' too far north. The position in the Gosta Lynga catalogue (and other modern sources such as the RNGC) is ~5' too far northwest.

400/500mm - 17.5" (6/8/91): about 30 stars mag 13-14 in a 7' diameter elongated N-S. Loose appearance with no dense spots. Stars are fairly uniform in brightness. The brightest member is variable WX Sagittarii (9.6-11.3) just west of center.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb