Francis Leavenworth discovered NGC 6993 = LM 1-236 on 8 Jul 1885 and recorded "mag 14.0, vS, R, sbMN." His very rough position (nearest minute of RA) happens to correspond with extremely faint PGC 776139 at 20 59 28.8 -25 41 24. But Harold Corwin examining Leavenworth's discovery sketch and it does not match this galaxy or star field. Corwin found the sketch best matches ESO 529-011 = PGC 65671, located 5.5 minutes west and 13' north of Leavenworth's position. But this identification still leaves some uncertainty (see Corwin's identification notes).

400/500mm - 17.5" (8/4/02): at 220x appeared very faint, fairly small, round, 40" diameter, low even surface brightness. Not noticed initially near position, but once identified could just hold steadily with concentration. The identification of this galaxy with NGC 6993 is uncertain because of a very poor discovery position but it roughly matches Leavenworth's field sketch and description.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb