Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 6702 on 8 Sep 1863 with the 11-inch refractor at Copenhagen. His position (measured on two nights) is accurate. Just 4 nights earlier he discovered NGC 6703. Edward Fath claimed the positions of NGC 6702 and 6703 were incorrect in his 1914 paper "A Study of Nebulae", but the NGC positions are accurate.

200/250mm - 8" (8/12/83): very faint, diffuse, small, almost round, even surface brightness. Located 10' NNW of NGC 6703.

400/500mm - 17.5" (8/1/89): fairly faint, fairly small, slightly elongated WSW-ENE, bright core, very small or stellar brighter nucleus. Forms an optical pair with NGC 6703 10' SSE. The redshift of NGC 6702 is twice that of NGC 6703, so it likely lies far in the background.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb