William Herschel discovered NGC 6647 = H VIII-14 = h2014 on 18 Jun 1784 (sweep 230) and recorded "A cluster of scattered stars filling the field; not rich and stars less than those in the foregoing [M25]." There is no significant clustering at his position on the DSS. JH made the single observation "a very loose parcel of very small stars, hardly noticeable as a cluster." His position is ~7' further east-southeast, but again there is nothing noticeable.

Harold Corwin identifies this number with a Milky Way field (unknown size) centered about 3' north-northeast of WH's position. RNGC classifies the number as a nonexistent cluster. See his identification notes for more.

600/800mm - 24" (7/7/13): patchy Milky Way star cloud at 125x (50' field). Unimpressive and does not stand out from the surrounding region except the position is centered on a scattered group of a half-dozen mag 10-11 stars, spread out over 7' in a SE to NW orientation. Located ~23' SSE of the rich open cluster NGC 6645.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb