Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 6986 = LM 1-235 on 2 Sep 1885 and recorded "mag 14.0, vS, R, glbMN." His rough position (nearest minute of RA) is just 16 seconds west of ESO 598-007 = PGC 65750. Bigourdan measured an accurate position on 17 Jul 1890 as well as Herbert Howe around the turn of the century, but Dreyer made a 20 minute error in RA in his "corrected" position in the IC 2 Notes. This error is repeated in Roger Sinnott's NGC 2000.0.

400/500mm - 17.5" (7/21/90): faint, small, slightly elongated ~N-S, small bright core. A small group of five mag 13 stars is 2'-3' SE.

600/800mm - 24" (9/27/19): at 200x and 375x; fairly faint, fairly small, slightly elongated N-S, 0.5'x0.4', very small bright core increased to a brighter nucleus, overall moderately high surface brightness. A group of 5 mag 12-13 stars is directly southeast.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb