Albert Marth discovered NGC 6971 = m 425 on 15 Aug 1863 and noted "vF, S, R." His position is accurate to within 1'.

400/500mm - 17.5" (8/1/86): fairly faint, moderately large, pretty diffuse, weak concentration, slightly elongated WSW-ENE. Located 7.1' SE of mag 7.7 SAO 126248. This bright star is at the midpoint of two nearby mag 9/10 stars on a line WNW-ESE.

600/800mm - 24" (9/5/18): at 225x; fairly faint, fairly small, roundish, 35"-40" diameter, fairly low surface brightness. Contains a slightly brighter nucleus that rises slightly to a faint stellar peak. This galaxy was a bit fainter than expected. Located in a pretty rich star field 7.2' SE of mag 7.7 HD 198271 and 24' E of mag 5.6 13 Delphini.

UGC 11639, located 15' NNE, appeared fairly faint, round, 35" diameter, faint stellar nucleus. Very similar (or perhaps marginally brighter) than NGC 6971.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb