William Herschel discovered NGC 693 = H II-859 = h156 on 25 Dec 1790 (sweep 986) and noted "pB, S, E nearly in parallel, south preceding a small star." John Herschel logged on 24 Sep 1830 (sweep 300), "pB; E; vgbM; a * 10m, north-following." The galaxy was observed 5 times at Birr Castle. On 7 Oct 1850, Bindon Stoney recorded "Light rather equable, a minute star in the p part, resolvable?". A sketch was made on 8 Nov 1876 and included in LdR's 1861 publication (Plate XXV, fig 2).

400/500mm - 17.5" (12/18/89): moderately bright, fairly small, elongated 2:1 WNW-ESE, broad concentration. A mag 10.5 star is 1.4' E of center. NGC 706 is 22' NE and NGC 676 26' SW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb