Edward Pickering discovered NGC 6833 = HN 54 on 8 May 1883 using a direct-vision prism with the 15-inch Merz refractor at Harvard College Observatory. His discovery position in AN 2517 was accurate.

Based on Crossley photographs at Lick, Curtis (1918) wrote "indistinguishable from a star on the Crossley negative, but shown to have a minute disk visually with the 36-inch refractor."

300/350mm - 13.1" (7/30/85): visible as mag 11.5-12 stellar object without a filter and verified with OIII blinking. A mag 10.5 star lies 2.8' NE and mag 9.0 SAO 48890 is 4.8' SE.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb