Lewis Swift discovered NGC 6651 = Sw. IV-69 on 18 Jun 1884 and recorded "eeF; pS; lE; e diff.; between a F[aint] nr *, and a distant B[right] one." His position is 24 seconds of RA west of UGC 1126 (separation of only 2'). Corwin suggests the "bright" star is ~5' west-southwest of the galaxy while the "faint near" star is roughly 2' east-southeast. I'd suggest the distant bright one is mag 7.4 HD 171044 11' NE, but in any case the identification is secure. Bigourdan measured a more accurate position on 3 July 1896 as well as Herbert Howe in 1899-00 with the 20" refractor at Denver.

UGC and CGCG and misidentify UGC 11193 = CGCG 340-042 as NGC 6651. UGC 11193 is located nearly a degree southwest of NGC 6651. Because of this error the magnitude for NGC 6651 in the RNGC applies to CGCG 340-042. MCG, RC2, PGC, RC3 and RNGC have the correct identification. See Harold Corwin's identification notes.

400/500mm - 17.5" (6/11/88): faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1 SW-NE, bright core.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb