Lewis Swift discovered NGC 6617 = Sw. I-94 on 14 Jun 1885 and noted "eeeF; pL; R; ee diff.; in vacancy. 8th of 8." in a group. His position is just 8 seconds of RA west of UGC 11176 and the description applies (faintest in the group). Herbert Howe measured a more accurate position in 1899-00, though Dreyer didn't include this correction in the IC 2 Notes.

400/500mm - 17.5" (6/11/88): faint, very small, round, bright core. Last in a group of 7 faint galaxies. Located 12' E of the NGC 6607/NGC 6608 pair.

600/800mm - 24" (7/19/12): very faint, fairly small, slightly elongated ~E-W, ~22"x18", low even surface brightness. Based on my size estimate, I missed the extremely low surface brightness halo with a ~1' diameter. Located 11' E of NGC 6609 and last in a group of 8 faint NGC galaxies.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb