William Herschel discovered NGC 6793 = H VIII-81 = h2039 on 18 Jul 1789 (sweep 932) and recorded "a sc. cl. of cL stars, pretty rich, iF, above 15' in extent." His position is accurate. On 24 Aug 1827 (sweep 90), JH logged "place that of a double star (HJ 886) at the northern extremity of the more condensed part of a L, loose, poor cluster of st 10...15m."

400/500mm - 17.5" (9/7/91): three dozen stars mag 10.5-14 in a 8' field. Fairly distinctive in the field. Located within a 30' loose, indistinct group with a mag 8 star at the west edge. The core of the cluster contains a 1' triangle of mag 10.5-11 stars with the north vertex a nice double star (h886 = 10.5/11.5 at 8"). Just south is a 1' quadrilateral consisting of four mag 13 stars. No other distinct groups are in the cluster, although 4' N and 4' E are two small groups of seven and four stars.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb