John Herschel discovered NGC 6883 = h2070 on 19 Aug 1828 NGC 6883 and recorded "a double star in a cluster of a good many stars 10...13m." Dreyer, the observing assistant at Birr Castle on 23 Aug 1876, simply noted "rich field, no remarkable cluster."

200/250mm - 8" (8/15/82): elongated string of stars N-S, moderately large, over background haze. Situated in a very rich star field and difficult to identify.

400/500mm - 17.5" (8/19/95): two dozen stars in a 4' diameter surrounding a prominent "Y" asterism of five mag 10 stars with twenty additional mag 13-14.5 stars. The brightest star at the base of the "Y" is a mag 9.5/10 double at 17" and the center star about 1.5' NE is an unequal closer pair. Surrounding this group is a oval border of 7' diameter consisting of several strings of mag 13 stars, which increase the total to roughly 50 stars. Appears to be an asterism in a rich Milky Way field and best view at 100x. Attached to Ruprecht 172.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb