John Herschel discovered NGC 6851 = h3807 on 5 Sep 1836 and recorded "pF; pS; R or vlE; psbM; 15"." His position is at the north edge of the halo.

400/500mm - 18" (7/10/02 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): at 128x, it appeared moderately bright and large, oval 4:3 NNW-SSE, 1.2'x0.9'. The galaxy is well-concentrated with a bright core and is collinear with two mag 9.5 stars 5' SE and 13' SE. NGC 6851 is a member of the loose Telescopium Group (ACO S851) with dominant members NGC 6861 and NGC 6868.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb