William Herschel discovered NGC 6814 = H III-744 = h2045 on 2 Aug 1788 (sweep 851) and noted "vF; pL; R; vgmbM." His position is accurate. JH made the single observation "Not vF; pL; R; bM; r; 50"."

200/250mm - 8" (8/15/82): faint, small, slightly brighter core, larger faint halo with averted.

300/350mm - 13.1" (7/20/85): this Seyfert galaxy appears fairly faint, round, 2.0' diameter, broad concentration, stellar nucleus, diffuse outer halo.

600/800mm - 24" (8/7/13): fairly bright, fairly large, round, ~1.5' diameter. Well concentrated with a bright core that increases to a very bright nucleus. A mag 13 star lies 1' NW and two mag 14/14.4 stars are a bit further northeast. Spiral structure is strongly suggested in the halo with an ill-defined segment of a curving arm on the east side and a counterpart on the west side. A very faint star (V = 15.6) is superimposed on the western arm.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb